COSTA MESA : Tour Bus Engine Burns; None Injured

Eighteen people scampered to safety from a tour bus Monday afternoon as a fire engulfed its diesel engine.

None of the 17 passengers or the driver were injured in the fire, which sent billows of black, acrid smoke into the air and through the 46-seat bus, operated by Valen Transportation and Tours of Anaheim.

The bus was returning to five hotels in Anaheim after a day of sightseeing in Newport Beach, passengers said. Investigators said they do not know what started the 3:15 p.m. fire.

“I don’t understand, she ran like a kitten all day long,” said the driver, who declined to give his name, as he stood along Harbor Boulevard south of Sunflower Avenue and watched firefighters douse the engine in the rear of the bus.

The driver, heading north on Harbor Boulevard, pulled over and stopped the bus after a truck driver honked and pointed to smoke coming from the rear of the bus, passengers and fire officials said. Passengers, who were watching a Bill Cosby comedy monologue during the ride, said they did not notice anything wrong with the bus.

“I think someone up there doesn’t like me. Maybe I should go home,” joked Ken Childs, of Birmingham, England, who is touring Southern California.

Charles and Alice Hawley of Venice, Fla., stood among fellow passengers as they waited for a second tour bus to pick them up. They said they were already a little shaken from the weekend earthquakes and an episode in Escondido on Thursday when the engine in their rental car burst into flames.

“The hotel will probably kick us out, with our luck,” Charles Hawley said, smiling.