Beaurepaires - 2003 Highway Hero

Homer Tunnel Hero's Bravery Recognised
Homer Tunnel bus fire hero, Bob Kaan's bravery in guiding 32 tourists to safety when his bus caught fire has been awarded this year's Beaurepaires Highway Hero Award.

The award, which was established by the NZ Police six years ago and is backed by the Land Transport Safety Authority, NZ Trucking Magazine and Beaurepaires, recognises outstanding acts of heroism, bravery or civic service performed by commercial truck and bus drivers in the course of their work.

There were eight finalists nominated for this year's award covering the period from November 2002 to October 2003 the following year. Minister of Transport Paul Swain (pictured with Bob) presented the $5000 winners cheque and trophy to Bob Kaan at a ceremony at Parliament in Wellington on Thursday.

Kaan was driving a Ritchies Coach lines bus with 32 Singaporean tourists and a tour guide on a return trip from Milford Sound. Before heading into the Homer Tunnel he had stopped the coach to top it up with oil after an oil warning light flashed up on the dash. At the time he said he hadn't seen any fumes, smoke or noticed any overheating problems with the engine.

However, just 150m from the eastern exit of the tunnel, he noticed flames coming from the rear of the coach and he decided the safest option was to stop and get his passengers off the vehicle.

After making sure everyone was safely off the coach, he got out and made his passengers link hands and walked them towards the exit. Along the way, they also had to deal with a couple of explosions from the burning coach, as the fire reached flammable sections.

The unlit tunnel rapidly filled with smoke and fumes and three of the passengers had to be treated for smoke inhalation once emergency services arrived from Te Anau, more than 100km away.

To add to the stress Bob was already under, two passengers had become parted from the group in the chaos and had walked the other way to the Milford end of the 1200m long tunnel, causing initial fears that they had been caught in the blaze. They were found some time later.

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