Tour owner says buses 'destroyed' in fire at industrial estate

The owner of a Belfast tour company has said four of his buses were "burnt to a crisp," in a fire at an industrial estate.

Firefighters dealt with the blaze, in Dunmurry, where the buses were parked.

The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service got a call at about 21:40 GMT.

Ben Allen, of Allen's Tours based in Sandy Row, was at the scene as fire crews worked to get the blaze under control.

Ben Allen told BBC News NI that two of his coaches, a double-decker and an open-top bus were "destroyed" in the fire on Wednesday.

The four vehicles were among a fleet of six.

"I got a call and got here as soon as I could," Mr Allen said.

"I actually had to jump into one of the open-top buses to drive it away from the flames. I managed to get that one away, but only just."

Mr Allen said he had CCTV that showed the flames as they first appeared.

The fire service said five appliances attended the scene.

Speaking to the BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme, NIRFS Group Commander Danny Ard said it was an "intense fire for crews to deal with".

"We had a total of four buses on fire...it demands a significant amount of water...the energy in a bus fire is very significant.

"We had an additional challenge with nearby power cables as well so quite intense fire for crews to deal with and indeed getting enough water down to deal with such an energetic fire was challenging as well for crews."

He said there was no threat to life and added that the circumstances of the fire have yet to be determined and the PSNI will be investigating it alongside the NIFRS.

Mr Allen thanked the fire service for being able to save the other buses.

"20 employees could have been coming in here with no work and it's really only thanks to the fire service being able to save the open top buses."