Fire damages three school buses

Smoke emanates from the top of a Dousman Transport bus after Village of Salem Lakes firefighters and neighboring agencies battled the blaze Oct. 16. School officials said there were no transportation interruptions (Earlene Frederick/The Report).

By Jason Arndt
Editor

Although fire damaged three Dousman Transport buses on Monday, authorities reported no injuries, and school officials said their students arrived to school without issues.

Dousman Transport Co., Inc., which contracts with seven area school districts, notified Salem Lakes Fire and Rescue of a parked school bus on fire at its 28401 Wilmot Road property shortly before 6 a.m. Oct. 16.

According to Fire Chief Mike Slover, when Kenosha County Sheriff’s deputies first arrived, they discovered two buses engulfed in flames.

“Deputies arrived first and advised two buses (were) involved with a third catching fire,” Slover said. “Employees were moving other buses from the parking area.”

In response, along with Salem Lakes Fire and Rescue, departments from the Town of Randall and Village of Bristol assisted at the scene.

Since the fire happened in the morning, Slover said there were fewer volunteer firefighters available to help, which led neighboring departments to cover for them while they battled the blaze.

In addition to Salem Lakes, Bristol and Randall, other responding departments were the Village of Pleasant Prairie and Town of Wheatland in Kenosha County.

Additional units came from Kansasville in Racine County along with the towns of Richmond and Newport in Illinois.

Slover, meanwhile, credited Dousman Transport employees for minimizing damages at the property.

“Due to the quick work of Dousman employees to move unaffected buses, the fire was contained to the three damages buses,” Slover said. “The fire was under control within 10 minutes of arrival and totally extinguished by 6:58.”

Slover said there were no injuries to firefighters or deputies.

Sgt. Mark Malecki of the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department said the fire “is not suspicious but of unknown origin.”

No interruptions
While a representative from Dousman Transport declined to comment, including whether the company had transportation interruptions, district administrators from all seven schools said their students arrived without any delays.

Dousman Transport serves Salem Grade School, Bristol, Lakewood, Riverview, Trevor-Wilmot Consolidated, Westosha Central and Wilmot Union High schools.


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