Keep safe out there boys and girls. Make sure you have a couple of good fire extinguishers on board. One accessible from the inside and one accessible from the outside.

Wellington, Jan 6 NZPA -

A Gisborne man has been hospitalised with serious burns to a quarter of his body after a house bus caught fire early this morning.

The 41-year-old was pulled from the flaming vehicle by family members about 5am.

Crews operating two fire trucks and a tanker attended to the blazing bus, putting the fire out in about 15 minutes, a Gisborne fire station spokesman said.

Firefighters who examined the scene afterwards thought the fire had started accidentally, he said.

The man was initially taken to Gisborne Hospital. However, he was taken to Waikato Hospital by the Westpac Waikato Air Ambulance about 6.30am, after initial treatment for burns, pilot Dan Harcourt said.

The fire had apparently started while the man was cooking, Mr Harcourt said.

http://www.voxy.co.nz/national/man-badly-burned-house-bus-fire/5/34814

Take it easy out there folks…

A Dunedin man could only stand and watch as the uninsured house bus he had owned for two hours went up in smoke on the trip home.

Don Saxton, 51, bought the 1963 Leyland Leopard off a seller in Wanaka at 2pm yesterday.

By 4pm, he was standing by the side of the Chatto Creek-Springvale Rd in Central Otago watching it burn to a shell.

He told the Southland Times he had smelt smoke coming from the rear of the bus and pulled over, but flames had quickly taken hold.

Local fire crews spent an hour dousing the blaze.

Mr Saxton paid $16,500 for the fully converted house bus and planned to live in it while he developed a coastal section.

The Port Otago cargo handler said he had sent the seller a text saying “Bus on fire. Written off. Call you later” and he was in need of a beer.

He had bought the vehicle “as is” and had not insured it.

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/mp/6507996/fire-destroys-house-bus/

An important reminder to check your electrical certificates, though, smoke coming from the back, i’d suggest that this was due to electrical wires over a hot exhaust or similar…I think this guy really should have checked it out before driving off. And another lesson? ALWAYS ring your insurance provider to get at least temporary cover before starting the engine after handing over the cold hard stuff.

Be safe out there peeps…

Update: More on the story and pics from ODT