Six school buses that serve the Burlington Area School District and other west-end schools caught fire in their parking lot early Tuesday morning, prompting school in the district to be called off for the day.
The cause of the fire is believed to be electrical and not suspicious, Racine County Sheriff's Office Public Information Officer Lt. James Evans said. The estimated cost of the damage is $525,000.
The fire was reported at the Thomas Bus Service Inc. lot at 31340 Bushnell Road in the Town of Burlington. According to the Sheriff's Office, the first person to notice the fire was a deputy on patrol who saw "heavy dark smoke coming from the Thomas Bus Co. property" at 3:54 a.m., according to a release from the Sheriff's Office. "It was then discovered that numerous school buses on the property were fully engulfed in fire."