Muna's tour bus burst into flames on the southbound 5 freeway in Burbank on Monday morning, shutting down several lanes during rush hour. All three members of the L.A. indie-pop group — Katie Gavin, Josette Maskin and Naomi McPherson — are safe, though the band says many of their personal belongings were destroyed in the blaze.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the bus driver was initially unaware of the fire and pulled over just past the Buena Vista Street off-ramp. California Highway Patrol received the first emergency call about the burning bus around 8:20 a.m., according to details reported by Consequence, which also detailed how the fire severely damaged the rear of the bus before firefighters got it under control.
Firefighters Knock Down the Blaze as Lanes Shut Down
The Burbank Fire Department extinguished the fire once the bus was safely off the roadway, the Times reports. No injuries were reported, and the cause remains under investigation.
The incident forced several lanes of the southbound 5 to close during the morning commute, a familiar headache for drivers in this stretch of the San Fernando Valley. The stretch of southbound 5 just north of Alameda Avenue was also tied up for nearly four hours after a fatal pedestrian crash in August.
A Rocky Stretch for the Band Right Before Red Rocks
Muna posted about the fire on social media, saying members were all safe even as personal items were lost. Guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Naomi McPherson later joked about needing to undo a warlock's curse, a nod to a rough few weeks that saw McPherson step away from the early dates of the Gets So Hot Tour in late September to care for their mother, who died from terminal cancer, according to Paste Magazine.
The timing of the fire adds pressure to an already tight schedule. Muna had performed at Stanford's Frost Amphitheater on Sunday, and the bus fire landed just two days before the band's headlining set at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado, on October 21 — the final stop of the North American leg of the tour, per OnesToWatch. From there, the band is slated to launch the European and UK leg of the tour in November, according to Alternative Press.
Touring Behind a New Album
Muna formed in 2013 after its members met as students at USC, and the band is currently touring behind its fourth studio album, Dancing on the Wall, announced alongside the tour on May 8. The group has built a reputation for political advocacy, speaking out on queer liberation, anti-capitalism and support for Palestinians — McPherson has said the band members are politically minded and express that through their creative work.
That advocacy extends to the tour itself. A portion of all ticket sales from the Gets So Hot Tour is designated to support The Ally Coalition and its work advocating for LGBTQ+ youth and queer migrants across the country, according to Red Rocks Online.
Bigger Picture on Bus Safety
Fires like the one that hit Muna's bus are a reminder that interstate commercial motorcoaches fall under federal oversight. Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations covers federal motor-carrier safety regulations, according to the Johnston Law Firm. Federal safety data analyzed by legal and transportation researchers found more than 13,000 commercial bus collisions occurred nationwide in 2024, underscoring ongoing safety oversight challenges for charter and tour operators.
For now, the official cause of the Burbank fire remains under investigation, and it's unclear exactly how the band plans to replace lost personal belongings in time for Wednesday's Red Rocks show. What is clear is that Gavin, Maskin and McPherson walked away unhurt — a relief for a band that was already navigating a difficult few months before the flames.
