An attempt to steal fuel from a school bus in Washington ended about as badly as it possibly could, School Transportation News reported. Instead of driving off with the gas, the would-be thieves left the bus in flames. One bus was destroyed and another was damaged, though no one was hurt. Now the small private school that owns them is asking the community for some help replacing everything that was lost.
The fire broke out at Grace Academy, a private K-12 school in Marysville. According to the school, two people were siphoning fuel from one of its buses when the vehicle caught fire. The blaze destroyed a smaller bus, damaged the back of a larger one parked nearby, and burned through some bushes in the area. The Marysville Fire Department got there quickly and kept the flames from spreading any further, however, and mitigated some damage.
No one was injured, in part because school was out for the summer and the campus was empty. Officials believe the thieves never meant to start a fire. The school also said this wasn’t the first time people had come onto the property to steal fuel. They’ve even tried drilling holes into the tanks. The co-head of the school, Tim Pearce, said earlier attempts hadn’t caused a fire though, telling reporters that this one “went very wrong.”
These buses were used mainly for field trips, sports, and other activities. Replacing one is a real setback, especially since Grace Academy had just wrapped up a fundraiser for a new bus the year before. School leaders are now collecting donations again, both to replace the bus and to add security so it’s less likely to happen again.
How Does Stealing Gas Start a Fire?
Pulling fuel out of a tank is much more dangerous than it sounds. Gasoline gives off strong vapors that catch fire easily, and it doesn’t take much to set them on fire. It can be something as small as a spark from a drill or a tool, or even static electricity. Add a pool of spilled fuel into the mix, and a little mistake can turn into something much more severe.
Whoever had siphoned the fuel likely had no intention of destroying anything, but the fire spread fast once it started. By the time firefighters knocked it down, the smaller bus was beyond saving. The damage could have been far worse if the flames had reached the buildings or if anyone had been standing nearby.
Why Do Thieves Target Fuel?
Fuel theft tends to rise and fall with gas prices, and it’s a bigger problem than most people realize. Thieves often go after fleet vehicles like work trucks, construction equipment, and school buses, because their tanks are large and usually sit unattended overnight. Drilling straight into a tank is a common method, since it’s faster than siphoning. It’s also a method that can easily go wrong, spraying fuel around and sparking a fire.
For a school like Grace Academy, the cost hits hard. A single bus can run tens of thousands of dollars, and a small private school doesn’t have a fleet to spare. That’s why officials are leaning on the community again, just a year after the last fundraiser. They’re also grateful for the one thing that went right, which is that the campus was empty and nobody got hurt.