Bus taking B.C. kids on field trip bursts into flames
No one was harmed when a bus transporting elementary school children to a field trip in B.C. caught fire Thursday, with the flames fully engulfing the coach, spreading to an outbuilding and prompting wildfire concerns.
First responders in Chilliwack were called to the scene around 9:30 a.m. for reports of a vehicle fire on Vedder Mountain Road, according to RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Krista Vrolyk, who adds the bus was carrying a class full of children from West Vancouver to a nearby waterpark.
"Fortunately, before the flames started, all of the occupants of the bus were able to safely exit the bus," she tells CTV News.
"Ultimately it was quick action from the teaching staff as well as the bus driver to get all of us the kids off the bus safely, and very quick action in response from the Chilliwack Fire Department."
Vrolyk says the kids were older, estimating they were in Grade 6 or 7, which made it easier to get them off the bus safely than if they were primary school aged.
The location of the blaze, at the foot of heavily-wooded Vedder Mountain, prompted crews to notify the BC Wildfire Service of the potential for a forest fire. Fortunately, Vrolyk says, the fire was knocked down before it could spread any further. The fire danger rating in the area, as in much of B.C.'s Lower Mainland, is currently extreme due to tinder-dry conditions and persistent, unseasonably high temperatures.
Photos from the scene show thick clouds of smoke billowing into the air, and flames shooting up from the bus and the structure and scorched trees on the side of the road. All that remains of the coach is a charred shell.
A bus carrying schoolchildren caught fire in Chilliwack, B.C. on June 8, 2023. (Photo submitted by Angela Bergen) A bus carrying schoolchildren caught fire in Chilliwack, B.C. on June 8, 2023. (Photo submitted by Angela Bergen)
No one was harmed when a bus transporting elementary school children to a field trip in B.C. caught fire Thursday, with the flames fully engulfing the coach, spreading to an outbuilding and prompting wildfire concerns.A bus carrying schoolchildren caught fire in Chilliwack, B.C. on June 8, 2023. (Photo submitted by Angela Bergen)
A bus carrying schoolchildren caught fire in Chilliwack, B.C. on June 8, 2023. (Photo submitted by Angela Bergen)
The fire also knocked out power for thousands of customers in the area. The schoolchildren were picked up by another bus and taken to Cultus Lake Waterpark, but when they arrived the slides were temporarily out of service. Power in the area has since been restored.
The cause of the fire has not been determined.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction overturned by N.Y. appeals court
New York's highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction, reversing a landmark ruling of the #MeToo era in determining the trial judge improperly allowed women to testify about allegations against the ex-movie mogul that weren't part of the case.
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that is banned at Queen’s Park.
CTE: Researchers believe widespread brain injury may contribute to veteran suicide rate
Researchers are working to better understand if some Canadian military veterans may be suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE -- a disorder previously found in the brains of professional football and hockey players after their death.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
New deep-water channel allows first ship to pass Key bridge wreckage in Baltimore
The first cargo ship passed through a newly opened deep-water channel in Baltimore on Thursday after being stuck in the harbor since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed four weeks ago, halting most maritime traffic through the city's port.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.