No one was injured in connection with a bus fire in downtown Chattanooga on Friday afternoon - thanks in part to four Good Samaritans.
At 3:30 p.m., Carol Ward was driving the Orange Grove mini bus around the 400 block of Broad Street when she started having engine problems. With her was another Orange Grove staff member, along with three adult clients and one school-age client.
When the engine problems continued, she pulled the bus over to the curb and stopped. That's when fire erupted in the engine compartment.
As the fire quickly spread, the Orange Grove employees struggled to get their clients off the bus. Four men who happened to be nearby saw the commotion and ran to the bus to help. Kenneth Chope, 25; Maurice Vaughn, 36; David Vogt, 27, and Will Wallace, 37, got the employees off, and then quickly lifted the clients out as the fire spread to the rest of the bus. While they were at it, they called 9-1-1 for help. No one was injured.
Chattanooga firefighters got most of the fire out quickly, but Battalion Chief Mack Moore said their efforts were hampered by the burning engine, which had components made of magnesium. Magnesium reacts violently with water, so the firefighters used dry powder extinguishers to get the fire completely out.
The exact cause of the fire is not known, but it is believed to be related to a mechanical malfunction.
The Orange Grove clients were sent home on another bus.