- The cross-country bus in flames in the gravel parking lot below the soccer field. Photo by Jeffrey Morse
By Adrienne Goodrich
Online Editor
Editor’s Note: Corban’s power may be shut off temporarily in order to fix the power line damaged in the fire.
The track and cross-country team bus went up in flames at about 6:15 on Thursday night. No one was injured.
After taking the team to practice in Bush’s Pasture Park for a Saturday meet, the bus started smoking and was consumed by flames, melting through a power line as it was idling in the gravel parking lot below the soccer field directly across from Farrar Hall.
“I was stopped, and I went to hit the gas, and it died,” said Brad Bates, the assistant coach driving the vehicle. The bus then started smoking and students exited and tried to use a fire extinguisher to cool off the engine.
“They couldn’t open the hood because it was too hot,” said Josh Dyer, a freshman runner who had been dropped off at Farrar only seconds before the bus began smoking.
After this the bus burst into flames that rose high enough to sizzle the streetlight on the telephone pole and melt a power line, said head coach Norm Berney.
Berney said that the carburetor was the cause of the fire, which was unfortunate, he said, because the team had just spent more than $800 repairing it. The men’s and women’s track teams use the bus every day in the spring because Corban does not have a suitable place to practice, he added.
“We were very blessed that it happened here and everyone could get off in time,” Berney said. “It’s the end of an era. It looks like a covered wagon now.”
At press time, the road to and from the gym was still closed due to the sparking power line.