Bus Blaze

Pipe band lucky to escape bus blaze

Anton McNulty and Neill O’Neill

IT WAS all well that ends well for the Dookinella pipe band, but their dream trip to Cleveland could so easily have turned into a nightmare after the bus in which they were travelling to Shannon Airport dramatically burst into flames in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Forty-two people, including band members and their families, were travelling to Shannon Airport to catch a nine o’clock flight to Cleveland where they were to take part in one of the largest Irish cultural festivals in North America.
At approximately 3am, they were forced to stop in Newport and wait for a new bus after they incurred mechanical trouble during the journey from Achill. As they waited in Newport for a replacement bus to arrive, smoke started to billow from the bus which was parked opposite the disused petrol pumps on Main Street, and panic ensued when one of the tyres suddenly burst.
There was a frantic dash among the passengers to get all their equipment off the bus before the inferno became too ferocious and all was saved except for one bag of clothes which also contained a passport.
A unit of the Mayo Fire Brigade from Westport was on the scene inside 15 minutes and it took them almost half an hour to bring the blaze under control. They were concerned by the presence of disused petrol pumps nearby but these were not affected in the fire. Damage was, however, caused to several vehicles on the street and to a nearby shop-front which had its plastic fittings and down pipes melted. The bus, which belonged to Corduff Travel, was completely destroyed but, though its diesel tank ruptured, it did not explode.
A replacement bus arrived at the scene to transport the band members to Shannon and they all arrived at the airport at 6.30am, in time for check-in.
Conor Molloy, pipe major with the band, told The Mayo News from Cleveland that nobody was hurt by the blaze and they were determined to enjoy their stay in America. He said there was little concern initially when they were waiting for the new bus.
“We were waiting a while for our new bus when the tyre burst and there was a mad rush to get the gear off. We got everything off except for a bag of clothes with a passport, but an emergency passport was got from Cork and nothing was lost that couldn’t be replaced.
“The big thing going through my head at the time was that we might lose our gear, which consisted of €100,000 worth of equipment, and that would have been a disaster for the band. However, everyone was all right and basically we are all looking forward to the rest of the trip in America,” he said.