An electric school bus erupted in flames Friday evening in a parking area behind Roseville High School, drawing a heavy response from firefighters and police, forcing nearby road closures, and rattling an otherwise quiet campus. Crews stayed on scene into the night to corral the stubborn fire, while officers diverted traffic around the school. Officials reported no injuries.
According to the Roseville Fire Department, crews were dispatched around 6:20 p.m. after a passerby spotted smoke rising from a bus parked in the lot behind the school. Firefighters arrived to find smoke coming from a single vehicle, identified it as an electric school bus powered by a lithium-ion battery, and confined the blaze to that one bus. The Roseville Police Department secured the area and closed Berry Street between Reserve Street and Tiger Way while the response continued, according to CBS Sacramento.
Why Battery Fires Keep Crews on Scene
Lithium-ion cells can experience thermal runaway, a chain reaction that releases intense heat and flammable gases and can cause damaged battery packs to reignite hours after they appear to be out. The U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration notes that battery fires may require extended cooling and monitoring to prevent flareups and that completely putting them out can take much longer than with conventional vehicle fires, complicating cleanup and traffic impacts, according to PHMSA.
Roseville High's website lists the campus at 1 Tiger Way and shows the district was on spring break on Friday, which suggests the bus yard would have had fewer people on campus at the time. Per Roseville High School's site, district transportation typically parks buses in that rear lot when they are not in service.
Fire crews remained on scene working to fully extinguish the battery, and police continued urging drivers to steer clear of the area while the investigation moves forward. Authorities have not yet determined the cause and said they will share updates as the probe continues, per CBS Sacramento.
