Popular tour bus engulfed by flames in freak fire during 4WD sand dune adventure ride in Lancelin

Tourists were quickly evacuated before a tour bus burst into flames during a popular 4WD adventure tour north of Perth on Thursday afternoon.

Volunteer firefighters responded to the Australian Pinnacle Tours vehicle at around 2pm after it was engulfed in flames at Lancelin, 90 minutes north of the city, during a 4WD and sandboard adventure in the Lancelin dunes.

Pinnacle Travel Group said there were no passengers on board when the fire broke out and there were no injuries. The company said the cause of the fire was unknown.

A spokesman said: “The safety and well-being of our guests and staff is our top priority. We commend our driver for his calm, prompt and professional response, which included getting our guests to safety, alerting emergency services, attempting to control the fire where safe and arranging for the urgent deployment of an alternative vehicle to collect all passengers.”

The incident was described as “sad news” by the Lancelin community Facebook page.

It’s one of three vehicles the business uses on its hugely popular 45-minute adventure trips “along pristine white sand dunes.”

“We are extremely grateful to the Lancelin Volunteer Firefighters for their quick response and safely extinguishing the fire,” the tour operator said.

The company said the incident was “isolated” and that it would carry out checks on the other two 4WDs before they were put back into service.

“There is no indication of any problems affecting the rest of the fleet,” the spokesman said.

“Pinnacle Travel Group maintains high standards of service and maintenance across our fleet of over 90 vehicles and all vehicles are subject to regular inspections.”

While the burned vehicle was planned to be delivered to Perth on Friday, teams carried out sand cleaning work in the affected area.