Photo: Firefighters extinguish a fire at the back of the soccer teams’ bus Sept. 23. The men’s and women’s teams were traveling back to campus after playing a game at Our Lady of the Lake in San Antonio, Texas. Photo provided by: Zach Stoner, mass communications sophomore.
By Susannah Waite, Staff Writer
A charter bus carrying the men’s and women’s soccer teams caught fire while traveling back from a game Sept. 23 at Our Lady of the Lake in San Antonio, Texas.
Team members noticed smoke filling the back of the bus and took action.
“We started yelling to our coaches at the front of the bus that there was smoke,” said Zach Stoner, mass communications sophomore.
The bus driver exited the highway and pulled over near a gas station.
“It was starting to get foggy in the bus and smoke was really filling it up,” he said.
After team members fled, the engine located at the back of the bus caught fire.
“Once we were off the bus we started hearing little pops out of the engine, then one big pop that shot out strange-colored smoke, and then it just caught fire,” Stoner said.
Everyone was told to grab their essentials, which meant laptops and cell phones, said Dillon Byrd, economics junior.
“There was a lot of soccer equipment, pillows and blankets left on the bus, but those things are all fine,” Byrd said. “They reek of smoke.”
Team members expected to return late Sunday evening, but spent the night at a hotel instead and continued traveling home Sept. 24.
