A Toledo School District bus caught fire on Classe Road near Ethel on Tuesday afternoon, with the fire destroying the vehicle but leaving all people involved unharmed.
After finishing the rounds dropping off children from school Tuesday, according to a school district post on Facebook, the bus driver was executing a turn around at an approved location when the exhaust at the back of the bus hit dry grass and ignited.
This caused the school bus to catch fire from the back, allowing the driver enough time to get out unharmed. The driver then attempted to extinguish the fire themselves but was unsuccessful.
The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office received a call about the incident at 4:53 p.m., and the flames were put out by responding firefighters.
The bus was damaged to the level of being unsalvageable, according to Jeff Humphrey, a sheriff’s deputy on the scene.
“It could have been a lot worse,” Humphrey said. “But Toledo’s down a bus. There is no salvaging it.”
The school district posted a photo of the bus fully engulfed in flames on Tuesday afternoon advising motorists to avoid the area. Well into the evening, the roadway was covered with debris and broken glass.
“We thank everyone for their kind words and concern for our students and our driver. Thanks to the firefighters who responded,” Toledo posted to Facebook later on.
