Charter bus with Central High students catches fire returning from Grad Night

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A group of Central High School graduates got quite a scare Friday morning. Their charter bus caught fire in Central Fresno as they arrived home from an overnight trip.

More than 50 teens were on board the bus with teachers heading home from "Grad Night" when a back rear tire on their charter bus caught fire and exploded. It happened just before 9 a.m. on Highway 99 heading north at Belmont.

The exploding tire hit a nearby vehicle and forced the bus driver to make an emergency stop. All the students were rushed off the bus on the side of the busy highway and firefighters were called to help put out the blaze.

"It was a little chaotic for the students, but the teachers did a phenomenal job keeping them calm and removing them from the bus," said William Butler, CHP.

No one on the bus or in the car was hurt in the incident. The Central High principal and administrators arrived at the scene and a school bus took the graduates the back to campus.

Traffic on northbound Highway 99 as well as the westbound 99 to the Highway 180 transition was backed up for some time.

The Highway Patrol is investigating the cause of the tire fire.