A group of school children was lucky not to be caught up in a bus fire north of Newcastle this afternoon.
The bus was on its way to pick up the pupils at Nelson Bay when it burst into flames.
The driver escaped injury, while nearby residents used garden hoses to try to put out the blaze.
Deputy Fire Captain, Glen Blanch says the driver noticed some sort of power loss and when he looked in his rear vision mirror he noticed smoke coming from behind him.
It only took three to four minutes for the bus to become completely engulfed by flames.
text will be replaced
was there any warning lights.
who was the bus driver