Oceanside CA— Late this afternoon, October 10, 2015, a shuttle bus used by Tsunami Skydiving to transport skydivers from their landing zone back to the Oceanside Municipal Airport administration building was completely destroyed by fire. The shuttle bus driver called 9-1-1 at 4:27 pm to report that there was smoke coming from under the hood of his vehicle.
As units were being dispatched to investigate, multiple additional callers were reporting a bus on fire at the airport. The first arriving engine found a medium sized shuttle bus fully involved in fire on a dirt road adjacent to the runway. While they pulled attack lines to extinguish the fire, the second engine arrived and connected their engine to the first one in order to provide an uninterrupted supply of water. Additionally, because fire crews were attacking the fire from the runway itself, notifications were made to the Federal Aviation Administration to close the airport as a safety precaution.
Crews were able to bring the fire under control 11 minutes after they first arrived. During the fire investigation process, the driver identified that he had started the engine and it had run for only a short period of time before quitting. He then tried to restart it and smoke started coming from the engine compartment. Within a short period of time, fire was seen in and on the ground under the engine compartment area. Since the engine compartment was completely destroyed by the intense fire, it was not possible to identify the exact cause of the fire. However, all of the facts and statements point to a mechanical failure of the fuel line or fuel system.
The airport was reopened at 5:09 pm. Damage is estimated at $10,000. There were no injuries.