Rick Gunn photoFirefighters were called when a tour bus caught fire in front of Grocery Outlet on North Carson Street on Wednesday afternoon. The flames from the engine engulfed the bus.
A tour group nearly had a hot time in Carson City on Wednesday when 32 elderly passengers were evacuated safely after fire engulfed the rear portion of their bus about 4:30 p.m.
"I was just going down the road and someone signaled from a passing car, 'Hey, you're smoking,'" said driver Mark Fazio of the Shangri La Bus Co. as he stood in the parking lot of Frontier Plaza watching the Carson City Fire Department mop up.
Fazio said he was carrying his passengers back to their homes in Reno after spending the day gambling in Lake Tahoe.
The bus was carrying no luggage and no one's belongings were affected by the engine fire.
The 32 passengers gathered in the ATF Rent-to-Own store as they awaited another bus to carry them the rest of the way home.
"We have plenty of seats," said Jennifer Lawrence, ATF assistant manager," so we brought them in here."
Elsie Soss, 89, of Reno, said the fire added a little excitement to the day as she and her girlfriends reminisced about their Tahoe trip.
"This is another trick to get us to gamble," she said, laughing. "It's not dull, let's face it."