More Than 25 School Buses Damaged, Destroyed in Fire

A Pennsylvania school district’s bus garage catches fire, destroying 16 buses and damaging others that are parked nearby. No one is injured, but classes are canceled the day after.

Nicole Schlosser・Former Executive Editor

February 26, 2018

1 min to read

SOUTH WHITEHALL, Pa. — A school district here had to cancel classes on Friday after a fire damaged or destroyed more than two dozen school buses.

The garage, which was housing 16 of the buses at the time, caught fire on Thursday night, destroying those vehicles and damaging other buses that were parked nearby, according to the Parkland School District website. No one was injured in the fire. The garage was also destroyed, WFMZ reports.

The district was able to resume classes on Monday, due to receiving buses from two leasing companies, and mechanics moving buses outside the garage away from the flames and working over the weekend to repair over a dozen buses that sustained minor damage, according to WFMZ. Mechanic Paul Frantz told the news source that many of the mechanics “are very tired but we take pride in this fleet, it means more to us than just a job.” Additionally, the district was able to put eight reserve buses into service, the Associated Press reports.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, WFMZ reports.

Topics:bus fires Pennsylvania Maintenance Safety

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