| Update: Electrical problem likely cause of special needs bus fire
Early reports on a bus fire in the east show the cause was likely electrical. Beaufort County school officials say the bus had at least 4 passengers and the driver on board at the time of the fire. Derek Graham says while six bus fires sounds like a lot, this is a rare event. I tried getting in touch with the International bus company but have not heard back. School officials confirm a special needs bus caught fire Monday afternoon with children on board. It happened a little after 3p. "What would apply to a regular bus doesn't apply to us," said Longo. Beaufort County Schools Superintendent Don Phipps says it's thanks to the bus staff and a fellow driver who helped get the last child off that no one was injured. "We were seeing some symptoms where electrical wiring was rubbing and if it rubs raw then it doesn't end up well," said Graham, DPI Transportation Section Chief. He says those electrical issues were happening on Thomas Built Freightliners. Investigators are still trying to determine the cause of those fires. They had to get the kids off the bus. The state Department of Public Instruction is investigating this fire. By the time bus driver Sheila Longo pulled the bus over smoke was billowing out of the hood and bus monitor Barbara Moore was getting the children un-strapped from their seats. "Only thing I was really thinking about was getting the children off," saidMoore. "Just arriving and seeing the bus in the condition you see now was very scary," said Phipps. This is not the first bus to catch fire. "Anything that we can learn, I mean that's the whole- that's what you try to salvage from this especially when you've lost, you know, a bus that's going to cost $80,000 to replace," he said. For now Moore and the rest of the bus staff will just have to keep rolling on. Four special needs students were on the bus at the time of the fire. "We just gonna get on the bus just like we always do and go take the children home and come back safe and sound," said Moore. They were trained for this a month ago after a school bus inCharlottecaught on fire. Update: Electrical problem likely cause of special needs bus fire |
Thursday 10 May 2012
Update: Electrical problem likely cause of special needs bus fire
