Arizona district pulls 11 buses after one catches fire
Tucson Unified School District took the buses out of operation because they are similar to the one that caught fire. The buses were bought from the same manufacturer at the same time.

Tucson Unified School District took 11 buses out of operation because they are similar to one that caught fire earlier this month. The buses were bought from the same manufacturer at the same time.
Tucson (Ariz.) Unified School District (TUSD) has pulled 11 school buses from operation as a precaution after one of its other buses caught fire earlier this month, according to a press release and video from the district.
No students were aboard the bus at the time of the incident, according to the district.
The buses that were taken out of operation are similar to the bus that caught fire, and they have been switched out with other buses, said Dr. H.T. Sánchez, superintendent of TUSD. The district bought the buses from the same manufacturer at the same time, according to district officials.
The district has followed internal procedures for investigation, and an independent evaluator designated by TUSD's insurance company will look over the five-year-old bus in question and identify the cause of the fire, according to the district.
"I truly feel this is an issue of an equipment malfunction as opposed to a maintenance oversight," Sánchez said.
Watch TUSD’s video news story below.
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