No one injured in Megabus fire on Georgia highway

[August 09, 2012]  SPRINGFIELD (AP) -- A double-decker bus caught fire Wednesday along Interstate 85 in northeast Georgia, forcing passengers to scramble off and closing the northbound lanes of the busy highway for hours.

The bus was traveling from Atlanta to Charlotte, N.C., on Wednesday when the fire began about 11:40 a.m. near Lavonia. Chicago-based Megabus said about 80 passengers were aboard and the driver safely evacuated the bus.

Georgia Department of Transportation spokeswoman Terri Pope said crews were cutting the charred bus in half horizontally to haul it from the highway.

"It's the only way for the wreckers to remove it," she said.

By Wednesday evening, all lanes had reopened. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

It's the latest incident for Megabus, which offers low-priced, one-way fares between major cities in the United States and Canada. It began operations in North America in 2006 and is owned by Coach USA of Paramus, N.J.

On Aug. 2, a Megabus struck a bridge pillar in the grassy median of Interstate 55 near Litchfield, Ill., killing one passenger and injuring nearly four dozen. Illinois State Police say a blown tire likely caused the double-decker bus to lurch out of control and hit the pillar.

A 76-year-old Chicago woman died Tuesday from injuries she suffered when a Megabus struck her as the driver attempted to make a turn on a downtown street.

The bus that caught on fire was manufactured by Van Hool in 2012 and had passed a full preventative maintenance check less than 2,500 miles ago, according to Megabus.

"Safety remains our number one priority," the company said in a statement Wednesday, stressing that it holds the highest rating available from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

[Associated Press; By MICHAEL BIESECKER and MITCH WEISS]

Follow AP writer Michael Biesecker at http://twitter.com/mbieseck.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.