Arson not likely in bus blaze

Marisa O’Neil

A campus shuttle bus caught fire and was gutted Thursday morning, the

day before fall classes would start.

UCI Police received calls at about 5 a.m. Thursday of a bus fully

engulfed in flames in a campus parking lot on Campus Drive near

California Avenue, Assistant Chief Jeff Hutchison said. State fire

officials are investigating the cause, he said.

“They’re telling us at this point it’s not looking like arson,”

Hutchison said.

The bus is a total loss, he said, but investigators have yet to

appraise its value.

The shuttle was a 28-passenger, 1994 Bluebird bus, he said.

Associated Students of UCI runs the shuttle service, which transports

students, teachers and administrators to various locations around the

campus, said Stacey Murren, interim director of parking and

transportation services.

UCI runs 10 buses on campus routes every day, UCI spokeswoman Lori

Brandt said. The fire reduced the number of available buses to 12,

she said.

Fall semester classes start today, but students should not be

affected, she said.

“But we will have to replace the bus,” Brandt said.

The bus was used the night before and was parked for the night at

about 2 a.m. in parking lot 1B, Hutchison said. Residents from the

Verano Apartments across the street called 911 when they spotted the

fire, Hutchinson said.

County firefighters extinguished the blaze, he said. Though the

campus has its own fire marshal, a state fire marshal investigator is

conducting the investigation.

There is no initial evidence to indicate the fire was set

intentionally, but the possibility has not been ruled out, Hutchison

said.

Campus police are still investigating an arson that took place on

campus in May. In that case, someone set fire to a symbolic cardboard

wall built by the Society of Arab Students in the campus quad.

That incident fueled tensions on the campus for the rest of the

school year. Police have no leads in that case, Hutchison said.