The fire began around 3:52pm in Iredell County. The driver had just finished his route, so there were no children onboard at the time. The driver noticed smoke coming from under the hood and pulled over. He grabbed the fire extinguisher to try to extinguish the fire.
“We are very fortunate that there were no children on this school bus,” stated spokesperson Boen Nutting. “The bus was quickly engulfed in flames. The N.C. Department of Public Instruction State Inspector is in route to Statesville now to inspect the bus.”
The bus was reportedly last inspected May 9th, just 8 days before the incident.