Two Williston schools closed on Thursday after a late night fire totaled four electric school buses in the Champlain Valley School District’s fleet.
The Allen Brook School and Williston Central School were closed to clean up nearby debris from the fire in the Allen Brook parking area. School officials said they were unable to transport students to and from the Williston Central School because of the disruption.
“We want to make sure that our students are safe, and our families and staff are assured that we are putting safety first and making sure that we do the appropriate cleanup before we reopen,” said Gary Marckres, the Champlain Valley School District’s chief operating officer.
The Williston Fire Department, in a press release, said custodial staff at the school Wednesday night discovered several buses on fire in the Allen Brook School’s parking lot on Talcott Road and called 911.
Responding fire crews found four buses on fire, and used a deck gun and two hand lines to extinguish the fire. No injuries were reported.
The four buses “sustained significant damage,” the fire department said. District officials estimated the damage totals more than $2 million.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, and the Vermont State Police were on the scene Thursday investigating the matter, school officials said.
The four electric buses, among the 60 school buses in the district’s fleet, were docked and charging at the time of the fire, school officials said.
Adam Bunting, the Champlain Valley School District’s superintendent, said that investigators were assessing the elements of the school bus systems, including the chargers, batteries and electrical ports.
He added that there’s no reason to believe that the fire was suspicious in nature.
The Allen Brook School will remain closed through Friday to err on the side of caution, Bunting said, and to give investigators the time to determine a cause.
The Williston Central School will reopen on Friday. Marckres said the district could have some limited delays in its bus routes, but he noted that they have had other school districts offer transportation assistance.
