Bus taking 26 students on ski trip catches fire; no injuries

BILLINGS – Authorities say a bus carrying 26 students on a ski trip caught fire as it made its way up the steep road to Red Lodge Mountain.

The Billings Gazette reported the bus driver, a chaperone and all of the students escaped safely before the bus became fully engulfed in flames on Ski Run Road on Friday morning. Investigators believe the fire was caused by an overheated engine.

Another bus from a different school district was passing by, and the driver took the students to the mountain. Plenty Coups High School Principal Sam Bruner said “they ended up going skiing, and the day was saved.”

The students are in grades 6 through 12.