No one hurt as charter bus with students catches fire

6/10/2006

ROCKY RIDGE, Ohio - A charter bus carrying a group of Michigan students home from Cedar Point caught fire Thursday night on State Rt. 2 west of Benton-Carroll Road in Ottawa County north of Rocky Ridge, the Ohio Highway Patrol said.

Bus driver Leeallan Darnell Cobb, 36, of Detroit was westbound on Route 2 about 8 p.m. when he observed flames coming from the rear left side of the bus, troopers at the patrol's Sandusky post said.

He pulled off the road, and he and the 44 passengers - 41 students from Berkshire Middle School in Beverly Hills, Mich., and three adults - left the bus unhurt, troopers said.

The cause of the fire was unknown yesterday, but engine failure is suspected. The rear of the bus was heavily damaged, troopers said. The bus was chartered from J.R. Charter of Novi, Mich.

Route 2 was closed in both directions for about two hours.

Troopers said another bus transported the students back to Michigan.