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CAT Tracks for October 8, 2009
CAIRO SCHOOL BUS FIRE...UPDATE |
From the KFVS TV Channel 12 Website...
Cairo school bus fire ruled arson
By CJ Cassidy
CAIRO, Il (KFVS) - Another fiery mess in Cairo, but this time the damage hits closer to home for some parents with kids who ride the school bus.
Fire investigators are trying to figure out why someone would set one of the buses on fire.
The spokesperson for the State Fire Marshall's office says someone intentionally set a bus one fire late Wednesday night, destroying one bus and slightly damaging two others.
That leaves many people in Cairo on edge and wondering what's going on.
"When they called and told me it was on fire, I was at home. I said "Oh Lord, please don't let it be my bus!" said Shirley Jordan.
But Jordan's hopes were shattered as she took in the scene at the bus lot Thursday morning. The bus she drove for the past nineteen years wasn't nearly as badly burned as the one that was destroyed, but she still had to switch buses when she went into work.
"I could see where it had burned the stopper, cracked my window and burned the side, and I don't really like to drive other buses. I'd rather drive my own bus," Jordan said.
A spokesperson for First Student bus service tells me they had no problem getting students to and from school... she pointed out they only used six buses at a time, and had nine in place for the Cairo area.
But in a town known for an unusually high number of arson fires, some parents say they wonder what could possibly be next.
"I'm scared to even let them ride the school bus you know," Travis Graham said. He hopes investigators track down a suspect soon.
"I just think it's cruel and...it sends out a bad message to the kids. You have kids they are looking up to what's going on in the community and you have things like this going on in the community you never know what has an effect on young minds."
In fact Shirley Jordan said the fire was all her young passengers talked about.
"Who did it? What happened? I told them I really didn't know all I know was the bus was on fire," Jordan said.
Jordan and others in Cairo say until they get some answers, this charred, gutted out shell of a bus will remind them of the problems that need to be addressed in this town.
"It kind of hurt a little bit to see something like this," said Jordan.
Investigators said they aren't sure how the fire was set, but the emergency door on the bus that was destroyed and a side door, were left open.
They said all the other buses on the lot were also in danger of going up in flames, and ask you to call authorities if you have any information that might help.
