WOODSTOCK, NH — One person was hospitalized after a tour bus carrying junior high students from Massachusetts caught fire on Interstate 93.
New Hampshire State Police troopers assigned to the Troop F barracks responded to a reported bus fire near mile marker 99 on Interstate 93 North in Woodstock just before 6:30 p.m. Friday.
The caller indicated the bus was still actively on fire and that those onboard, including adults and children, were evacuating.
Local firefighters were the first to arrive at the scene and confirmed the back of the bus was fully engulfed in flames.
After additional first responders and resources arrived, crews ultimately knocked the fire down.
Based on their preliminary investigation, troopers have determined that the bus was carrying about 60 seventh and eighth grade students and adult staff members when the engine compartment began to smoke just south of Exit 32.
The driver of the bus pulled over, and all students and staff evacuated, while the bus continued to fill with smoke.
While everyone onboard was able to escape safely, one adult was transported to an area hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation.
No other injuries were reported.
The students walked to a local business in Lincoln with school staff and troopers to wait until a new bus arrived.
Traffic was diverted off Exit 31 and all northbound lanes of Interstate 93 were closed for an hour and a half while the fire was contained and troopers conducted their on-scene investigation.
Troopers were assisted at the scene by firefighters from the communities of Lincoln, Woodstock, Campton/Thornton, and Franconia, as well as by members of the Woodstock Police Department, Linwood Ambulance, and the New Hampshire Department of Transportation.
No criminal element is suspected.
