Fire engulfs school bus, no kids on board
By Kalea Gunderson
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PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (WTAE) — A school bus caught fire in Pittsburgh’s East Hills neighborhood Wednesday afternoon.
The fire happened near Sunrise Avenue and Fairlawn Street just after 3 p.m.
A Pittsburgh Public Schools spokesperson said that the bus had been dropping off students from Westinghouse Academy, but no kids were on board when the fire started.
Pittsburgh Public Safety said the driver, who was the only person on the bus at the time, was able to escape without getting hurt.
The bus company that operated that bus was A.J. Myers. The staff couldn’t comment when Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 reached out on Wednesday, but a staffer did say their driver is OK, is well trained and did what they needed to do.
A witness, Carl Riley, recounted the moment he first realized a bus was on fire outside the home where he was visiting a friend.
“The flames were shooting, like, 15 feet above the vehicle,” Riley said.
Riley said he was first alerted to the burning bus when he heard the horn blaring.
“The most frightening thing about the whole experience is that it was a school bus, and you only think of kids, and that’s the only thing I was concerned about,” Riley said.
Riley was relieved that no children were on board when the fire started.
Fire officials determined that the cause of the fire was mechanical.
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