At a little before noon on Tuesday, a Princess tour bus caught fire in the southbound lane of the Parks Highway at about milepost 113. Motorists and even a pilot who flew over the fire were stunned at the size of the blaze and took to social media to post the event.
Trapper Creek Volunteer Firefighters responded within minutes. Chrystal Mayer, Trapper Creek Volunteer Fire Chief, says their entire crew of 10 firefighters were on the scene. Mayer called the Talkeetna Fire Department for extra water. She says there is no building to store the Trapper Creek fire trucks so they have not been able to get the big tanker on the road yet.
Mayer says she commends the bus driver who quickly got all 15 passengers off the bus to safety. The driver noticed something wrong with the vehicle, saw smoke, and immediately pulled to the side of the road. The Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge quickly dispatched another bus to pick up the passengers.
The wrecking company was still on scene attempting to collect the bus at 6pm Tuesday evening.
