Some OC Transpo passengers got a scare Monday evening after the bus they were on caught fire.

Megan Kardos was en route from Carleton University toward Place d'Orléans on the route 104 bus.

She said she was was sitting in the back section of the articulated bus when she and about 20 other passengers noticed another driver honking their horn as they were about to turn into Blair station.

"They kept honking at us and no one knew why," she said.

The route 104 bus caught fire on Blair Road just before turning into the OC Transpo station. (Courtesy Megan Kardos)

'The whole back was on fire'

Kardos said the bus driver pulled over and when riders got off, they realized the back wheel was starting to burn.

"Once I got to the sidewalk and looked back, the whole back was on fire and smoking," she said.

Flames shot out from the rear of the bus not long after it came to a stop. (Megan Kardos)

No one on the bus had realized there was a fire until the other driver alerted them.

"We all kind of thought the truck was trying to pass us. We didn't realize something was wrong."

Ottawa firefighters confirmed they responded to the fire shortly after 8 p.m. Paramedics also responded, but no one was injured.

In an emailed statement, OC Transpo spokesperson Kim MacEwan pointed to the vehicle's engine as the likely origin of the fire.

"Flames were extinguished quickly although a significant amount of smoke continued to come from the rear of the bus," she wrote.

"The fire appeared to come from the engine."