Update: Privately owned bus catches fire after blowout
LAS CRUCES, N.M (KFOX14/CBS4) — A bus caught fire Thursday night after it received a blowout on Interstate 25, police said.
Police said the call of a bus on fire came out at 9 p.m. on Don Roser Drive.
According to police, the 54-year-old driver bought the bus Thursday at an auction in El Paso.
He and his passenger were driving to Santa Fe, and exited on Interstate 25 at University Avenue.
At that time, the two noticed a fire coming from the rear driver’s side wheel well and stopped, police said.
The bus driver and his passenger safely evacuated from the bus, police said.
Authorities believe the fire started after the inner-rear well on the driver’s side suffered a blowout, and the friction from it caused extensive heat and the fire, authorities said.
Fire crews extinguished the fire within minutes and no injuries were reported.
The bus appeared to have been previously used as a corrections department transport vehicle, authorities said.
