Fire destroys bus, but not graduation trip

Eighth-graders on a graduation trip to Six Flags Great America in Gurnee took some spectacular photos from their cell phones - and that was before they even got to the park.

One of the five chartered buses carrying students from a Tinley Park middle school started giving off sparks and smoke from the rear wheel area.

The driver pulled over on I-294 near Cermak Road in Oak Brook, and all 47 students and staff were safely evacuated to a grassy area next to the shoulder. Tollway workers put the fire out with a fire extinguisher, but it reignited. Firefighters arrived to find the bus fully engulfed in flames, said Oak Brook Fire Chief Tom McEllin.

The students were taken to the toll plaza to wait for another bus. The cause of the fire is undetermined.

"I'm very grateful the kids were safe from the get-go; they were never in any danger," said Pat Dwyer, principal of Virgil I. Grisson Middle School.

The youngsters got to Six Flags about two hours later than they were supposed to, and pleaded with their principal to let them stay longer. She couldn't.

"Hopefully, they had a great time at Great America," McEllin said. "They'll have a story to tell, if nothing else."