A 73-year-old Dundee man rescued a bus driver after his vehicle caught fire in a petrol station on the outskirts of the city.
The bus was parked near the BP filling station on Kingsway West on Saturday morning when it burst into flames.
Although there were no passengers on board, its driver was inside – and unaware of the unfolding catastrophe.
Fortunately, Portmore Place resident Archie Harper had spotted the flames as he drove past.
The 73-year-old turned around and raised the alarm, potentially saving the driver’s life and that of a van driver parked next to the bus.
Archie said: “I was driving past and saw the fire through the hedge so doubled back.
“I stopped my car just before the petrol station – I believe they had already phoned the fire brigade but I went over to the where the vehicle was and could see the driver was still inside.
“I shouted: ‘Get the bloody hell out of there’.”
Archie said the driver then came out of the vehicle and got a fire extinguisher to try to put out the flames but had no success.
Fire crews arrived and used a hose reel to put out the flames. They then disconnected the battery.
Archie said he returned to the scene later and the driver thanked him for his life-saving intervention.
He said: “I went back to see what the damage was and the driver was still there.
“He said that if if wasn’t for me shouting he would have still been in there as he was asleep.
“There was another guy next to the bus in a white van and he didn’t realise about the fire either.
“If it wasn’t for me shouting they wouldn’t have come out of their vehicles.”
A spokesman for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said: “We were called out to a bus that had gone on fire at the BP filling station on the Kingsway.
“Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus used a hosereel jet to put out the flames before disconnecting the bus’ battery.
“There were no casualties and the fire was put out in about half an hour.”
It is understood the blaze was the result of a technical fault. Fire crews were also called to a blaze in Kirkton on Sunday evening.
Two sheds on Prieston Road were on fire. Firefighters used a hosereel to put out the flames.
