A fire that tore through a bus garage owned by Kelloggsville Public Schools in Kentwood, Michigan, has forced the district to call off classes due to the significant damage inflicted on their transportation fleet. As reported by WZZM 13, the blaze ignited shortly after midnight, destroying six buses and necessitating the aid of multiple fire crews.
Responding units from Cutlerville, Wyoming, Grand Rapids, and Kentwood fire departments worked for hours to battle the fire and hot spots, with the support of a towing company, forming a concerted effort to manage the disaster, Kentwood Fire Chief Brent Looman detailed the critical role of Murrels Towing Company, stating, "We were able to extinguish those fires, Murrells was there pretty quickly and was able to hook up a big tow truck and get those pulled out of there for us," as obtained in an interview by WZZM 13.
The destruction of nearly half of the district's 14-bus fleet led to a prompt shutdown for the day's school activities, confirmed by Kelloggsville Public Schools. In efforts to restore normal operations by Monday, the school will lean on the assistance of Kentwood Public Schools and/or Dean Transportation for bus service, as detailed by both News Channel 3 and WOODTV.
While no injuries resulted from the incident, the cause of the fire remains a mystery, though vehicle fires in such settings are not unheard of said Looman in an effort to provide some context-chief pointed out the necessity to examine all the buses thoroughly as well as the garage's electrical system for potential fault, "What we have to do is we got to look at all the vehicles to make sure the vehicles aren't at fault," he said. "And then we start looking at the buildings electrical system and make sure that's not at fault. Make sure there's no, no way anybody broke in and set the fire, that's all going to be ruled out," he added in a statement to WZZM 13.
Amidst the community concern for safety and disruptions, local resident Louis Barnes, whose children attend the district's schools, expressed his relief that the fire did not occur while children were present, "(I’m) just very glad that it did not happen during the school hours with the children being here," he told WOODTV. "It could have been very traumatizing and/or very dangerous." The fire investigation is ongoing with the school district actively working on contingencies to maintain educational operations.
