32 students, 5 adults escape bus fire in Santa Cruz Mountains unharmed, CHP says
SANTA CLARA COUNTY, Calif. (KGO) -- A charter bus with dozens of students on board caught fire Friday on the side of Highway 17 in the Santa Cruz Mountains, according to the California Highway Patrol.
There were 32 kids and five adults on board and all were able to escape with no injuries.
"We are endlessly thankful, frankly, to the heroes that were on that bus," Santa Clara Co. Fire Dept. Capt. Justin Stockman said.
According to CHP, the driver of the bus realized they were having some sort of mechanical problems and was able to pull over near Idylwild Road. They were traveling southbound and another bus came and picked them up.
"There was fire coming from both ends of the bus," Stockman said. "When the units showed up, they updated that to say there was an engine compartment fire that appeared to extend to the rest of the bus."
The aftermath shows just how much damage was done - blown out windows, a completely torched back end and burn scars at both of the roof vents.
Fire crews used water and suppression foam in their firefight along the narrow corridors of Highway 17.
"Always the issue with 17 is the amount of vegetation there and, obviously, there aren't fire hydrants on the freeway," Stockman said. "So we have to bring our own water and that's why we bring our water tender, our large water truck with us to help with that."
Crews were able to extinguish the flames without it spreading to dry brush around the area.
SKY7 was high overhead as the students waved to our cameras from safety.
Captain Stockman said this situation could've been much worse had it not been for the smooth evacuation off the bus.
"I really have to take a second to commend the adults, including the bus driver, that were on that bus," Stockman said. "Somebody did something very right today, because those kids weren't just effectively evacuated from that bus, they were evacuated without a single injury and that's just exceptional. That's what we want to see."
Quality Assurance Travel chose not to comment as Santa Clara County Fire begins its investigation into the cause.
As for the students, they were able to board another bus to continue with their trip to the coast - no doubt grateful for the heroic work during a scary situation.
