By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

Marion schools still are awaiting results of an investigation results on why the bus carrying football team members burst into flames July 12.

Superintendent Justin Wasmuth said the engine could be smelled overheating a few miles from a rest area on I-135.

Physical education and health director Shaun Craft, who was riding on the bus, called transportation director Darrel Shults. Shults said if the bus could safely make it to the rest area, it should do so, but if the situation became unsafe, the bus should be pulled over.

Driver Jerry Kline stopped on the side of the road a mile north of the rest area so the bus’ 34 passengers, including football team members, coaches, and Kline, could evacuate through emergency doors on the right side of the bus.

They avoided doors on the left so as not to exit onto lanes of the highway, Wasmuth said.

As students were exiting, Craft got a fire extinguisher and tried fighting the fire.

Wasmuth has been in contact with the school’s insurance company and been told the bus and sports equipment it was carrying would be covered.

Shoulder pads, helmets, bags, practice jerseys, cleats, and girdles all were destroyed, he said.

Some personal possessions will be covered by insurance as well, Wasmuth said.

Already, the district has contacted bus companies to investigate a replacement.

“Buses aren’t cheap,” Wasmuth said.

Remains of the bus have been released to the insurance company, although the McPherson County sheriff’s office has not yet given the district a report on the fire.

Oddly, a cooler on the bus was pulled out and still had ice in it despite destruction of the bus, he said.

A driver following behind the bus reported liquid coming from beneath its engine. It remains unknown what the liquid was.

The bus, purchased in 2017, was on its way back from a one-day football camp at Kansas Wesleyan University in Salina. No one was injured.