Fire breaks out in a school bus in Pittsburgh’s East Hills

A school bus caught fire in Pittsburgh’s East Hills neighborhood Wednesday afternoon. Watch the video above. The fire occurred near Sunrise Avenue and Fairlawn Street shortly after 3 p.m. A spokesman for Pittsburgh Public Schools said the bus was dropping off students from Westinghouse Academy but no children were on board when the fire broke out. Pittsburgh Public Safety said the driver, who was the only person on the bus at the time, escaped uninjured. The bus company that operated this bus was AJ Myers. Staff could not comment when Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 reached out Wednesday, but a staff member said his driver was fine, well trained and did what he had to do. One witness, Carl Riley, recounted the moment he first noticed a bus burning outside the house where he was visiting a friend. “The flames shot about 15 feet above the vehicle,” Riley said. Riley said he was the first to become aware of the burning bus when he heard the horn. “The scariest thing about the whole experience is that it was a school bus and all you think about is kids and that’s the only thing I was worried about,” Riley said. Riley was relieved that there were no children on board at the time the fire began. Firefighters determined the cause of the fire was mechanical. Download the WTAE app to stay up to date with breaking news. Sign up for our email newsletter to receive breaking news in your inbox.