The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
BUS CATCHES ON FIRE
Investigation begins into what caused Laketran bus to burn
“I saw black smoke coming from the bus. My coworkers saw flames.” — Willoughby resident John Popelka, an eyewitness to the fire.
No one was injured in a Laketran bus fire in Mentor on Feb. 15.
Mentor Fire Battalion Chief Robert Evans said the department received a call of a bus fire around 1:12 p.m. The bus was in front of the Bob Evans at 7680 Reynolds Road.
Evans said the driver was experiencing speed-related issues with the Dial-a-Ride bus while driving on state Route 2. The driver pulled off the highway because of the issues.
There was one passenger in the bus at the time of the fire. Neither the passenger nor driver experienced injuries or were in
need of any treatment. The passenger was transported to their destination by another bus.
Evans said it took about six minutes to bring the fire under control.
He said the fire started in the engine compartment. The cause of the fire is undetermined until further investigation by Laketran and the bus’s manufacturer.
Reynolds Road was briefly shutdown in both directions as the fire department handled the fire.
One eyewitness was returning from lunch to work at the Union Capital Mortgage Building, located at 7676 Reynolds Road, where he works for Prosperity Human Resource Systems, Inc. Willoughby resident John Popelka said officials were just starting to close off Reynolds Road as he returned to the office.
“I saw black smoke coming from the bus,” Popelka said in a phone interview around 4 p.m. Feb. 15. “My coworkers saw flames.”
He said after the driver of the bus pulled its passenger to safety, the pair stood by at the business as help was en route.
“The driver was there. She was shaken and mumbling about how she had an elderly person on board who used a walker,” Popelka said. “She said she struggled to get the passenger off and that, soon after she did, it burst into flames.”
Popelka added that he credits the bus driver with doing the right thing, from getting off the freeway when she knew something wasn’t right, to pulling her passenger to safety before the bus became fully involved with flames. He also said he thought Mentor safety officials did an outstanding job.
Laketran General Manager Ben Capelle also praised the driver for getting passengers to safety, as well as the Mentor Fire Department.
“Buses are very complicated and have lots of aftermarket components,” Capelle said in a news release. “We will be investigating the cause of the fire that appears to have started in the engine compartment. It is extremely difficult to tell at this point what caused the fire.
“Laketran has already contacted the bus manufacturer, who is currently assembling a team to help Laketran investigate the cause.”
Capelle went on to say that as a precaution, Laketran will be removing its propane fleet from operation until a full investigation is complete.