No injuries in Trailways bus fire on Thruway
The incident, caused by a flat tire, happened near the northbound Exit 18 ramp with about 50 people aboard.
NEW PALTZ >> About 50 passengers on a northbound Trailways bus bound for Albany from Long Island were safely evacuated after the bus caught fire on the Thruway, the town fire chief said Thursday.
At 1:36 p.m. Wednesday, when the bus was “just shy of the northbound ramp” at Exit 18 (New Paltz), a flat tire caught fire, Chief David Weeks said. The passengers were immediately moved to another Trailways bus that was following the first one, he said.
Weeks said the passengers already had been moved to the second bus and were on their way north when firefighters arrived.
Trailways was aware the bus had a flat tire and had dispatched a second bus to allow the passengers to continue on their journey, he said.
A second alarm was called for backup manpower, and the blaze was put out in about 45 minutes, Weeks said. He said the bus was a total loss.
“There’s absolutely nothing left. It’s just pretty much a frame sitting there,” he said.
Weeks said fires are common after tire blowouts. “When the tire goes flat, it overheats,” he said.
Emergency responders work at the scene of the bus fire on the northbound Thruway exit ramp in New Paltz.