Sayre High School Students Escape Bus Fire On Field Trip

There were some scary moments for some Sayre High School students Friday afternoon when their field trip bus caught fire along Interstate 75.

Everyone got off the bus safely.  No one was hurt.

The school’s environmental science students were on their way to the Great Smokey Mountains Institute at Tremont when bus caught fire, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP).

The bus was chartered from Lexington-based Wombles Transportation.

It caught fire around 5:00 p.m., just across the Kentucky-Tennessee line near mile marker 150 in Campbell County, TN, according to THP.

Investigators said the cause of the fire is under investigation, but preliminarily, it appeared to be mechanical in nature.  They said it began in the back of the bus.

THP said the driver immediately pulled over and tried to put the fire out, but was unsuccessful.  Other motorists passing by also tried to put the fire out.

Investigators said some of the students were able to salvage some luggage, but other students lost everything in the fire.

THP said there were 33 people on the bus, including the driver.

Wombles Transportation sent another bus to pick up the students.

The southbound lanes of I-75 were shutdown for a time.