30 Kansas students escape school bus fire after field trip in Kansas City
Thirty eighth-grade students and three adults safely escaped a school bus that caught fire on U.S. Highway 69 south of Kansas City Thursday afternoon, according to a Kansas Highway Patrol incident report.
A school bus with Unified School District 234 of Fort Scott, Kansas, was driving south on U.S. 69 in Linn County just before 3 p.m. The bus blew the outside dual tire on the bus’ rear driver side, according to a KHP report.
The bus driver attempted to “limp” the bus to a safe stopping location, but a fire started where the tire blew, the KHP report said. The fire then spread to the rest of the vehicle.
According to USD 234, the incident happened on a bus driving back from an 8th grade field trip in Kansas City. The bus driver pulled over when he saw smoke. The children and adults evacuated before the bus caught flames.
The blaze severely damaged the bus and it is now a total loss to the district, USD 234 said on Facebook Thursday.
While crews were fighting the blaze, students waited at a local convenience store in Prescott, Kansas. The district sent additional transportation to the store to pick them up, the district said.
“We want to commend our bus driver as well as our school staff who (were) on the bus and helped make sure all of the kids got off safely and were taken care of,” USD 234 said in the post. “We also want to thank the Linn County EMS, the Highway Patrol, and the people at the Prescott convenience store for helping to ensure the safety of our kids.”
All the occupants — 30 students and three adults — were able to safely exit the vehicle. No injuries were reported in the incident, according to KHP.
“We are thankful for the safe return of all of our students from the bus incident this afternoon,” USD 234 said. “All students are now home safe and sound.”
