Highway 17 Express Bus Catches Fire In Campbell
CAMPBELL (CBS SF) – A Highway 17 Express Bus carrying commuters from Santa Cruz County to San Jose caught fire in Campbell on Monday morning.
According to officials, the fire was reported on northbound Highway 17 near Hamilton Avenue around 7:30 a.m. Pictures taken by an eyewitness shows the back of the bus engulfed in flames and passengers standing on the side of the road.
Officer Ross Lee of the California Highway Patrol told Bay City News Service that the bus driver noticed flames coming from the back of the bus' exterior. The driver immediately pulled over along the highway and evacuated all passengers.
Another bus arrived and transported the passengers. After the passengers had been evacuated, the fire spread, filing the interior of the
bus with smoke, Lee said.
Fire crews were able to put out the fire and no injuries were reported, Lee said.
Two right lanes on northbound Highway 17 were closed as crews responded to the fire, causing a backup stretching to Lark Avenue in Los Gatos. All lanes of the freeway were opened around 10:30 a.m., officials said.
Santa Cruz Metro spokesman Ciro Aguirre said the fire may have been caused by an oil line that broke loose, but the official cause has not been determined.
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