CHP: Bus catches fire with students from Merced County in San Benito County
MERCED COUNTY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – A bus transporting over 50 people from Merced County, including students, caught fire in San Benito County, the California Highway Patrol informed our news partners KSBW.
According to CHP, a Charter bus transporting 56 Merced County people from Monterrey County caught fire on Monday just after 4 p.m. The incident happened on Highway 156 near San Juan Bautista, and CHP reports the bus was full of students.
The fire destroyed the interior and the back of the bus. All 56 people onboard were able to get out of the vehicle safely thanks to the driver, a firefighter from the Hollister Police Department said.
“If the bus driver hadn’t been quick to get this thing. He moved quickly, got off to the side of the road, got us an early response out to it. If they hadn’t moved quickly this would’ve been a bad outcome but they did a fantastic job of getting everybody off,” said Rodney Dover with the Hollister Fire Department.
Preliminary investigations point to a blown tire, but as of Tuesday, the cause of the fire is unknown.
This is an ongoing investigation.
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