A bus transporting an Iowa minor league baseball team to their next game in Illinois went up in flames just before three o’clock on Friday.
Volunteer firefighters in Earlham, Iowa said the charter bus carrying the Sioux City Explorers experienced mechanical problems that began in the vehicle’s engine compartment and soon spread to the passenger section.
The players managed to exit the bus without injury, but the vehicle itself was a “total loss,” the fire department said, sharing photos of the back half of the bus completely charred.
State Rep. JD Scholten, who also pitches for the Sioux City Explorers, said on Facebook that the team was on its way to a game in Kane County, Illinois when the problem occurred.
“Minor league bus trips are notorious for bus issues,” he wrote, along with photos of the burned-out bus. “Huge shout out to the Earlham Fire Brigade.”
The highway around where the fire occurred was closed for about three hours, according to the emergency services. The explorers were back on the road in a new bus around 5:45 a.m., KTIV reported.