(Photo courtesy of Westwood Firefighters Local 1994) “Firefighters put out bus fire”
Benjamin Heffner
Connector Editor
On Sunday, October 19th, a bus carrying around 40 members of the UMass Lowell Marching Band on their way to an exhibition performance for the Massachusetts Instrumental Choral & Concert Association (MICCA) at Norwood High School caught on fire off Route 109 in Westwood.
All the students, most of whom were in the percussion section, were able to safely evacuate without any injuries, with one student evaluated for smoke inhalation who declined transport, and firefighters were able to save over $100,000 of the band’s musical equipment.
However, several personal items, including phones, laptops, and wallets, as well as uniform equipment, were damaged, totaling over $40,000.
Senior Glen Njeru, a music studies major, instantly realized something was strong when the bus started rattling and then began smelling of smoke while driving on Interstate 95, and immediately alerted the bus driver and Associate Director Deb Huber, who was driving a short distance behind the bus. Huber said, “[Njeru] said, ‘Oh, my god. There’s fire!’ I said, ‘Get off the bus!’”
Njeru said, “I was just telling everyone to run. I wasn’t quite sure if everyone was off the bus, and the fire was getting higher and hotter.”
Huber, Director Dan Lutz, and other band staff quickly arrived on the scene and escorted students away from the bus, which was already engulfed in flames in a matter of seconds. Lutz credited Njeru for his quick thinking, saying, “If he had not forced them to leave, we would’ve had injured people. There is no doubt about that. The whole back of the bus was engulfed in flames within about 45 seconds.”
Alejandro Bonilla, the band’s head field conductor and a senior music studies major, was on a different bus, but said he received multiple texts and phone calls from concerned students. He said, “The first thing was ‘Oh my god are these people going to be ok?’ Because smelling smoke on a bus is never a good sign.”
Another bus picked up the students and brought them to the performance site, where the band performed their show as scheduled, despite having very little time to prepare than had been planned. Lutz said, “We didn’t warm up, we didn’t have uniforms, and there were a number of people who were pretty seriously traumatized.”
Huber added, “For them to come together and be able to perform, I think we all needed each other, and they needed that moment of ‘We’re ok, this is ok, this is something we got through.”
In a statement, UMass Lowell said, “We are grateful to the Westwood Fire and Police Departments who responded to the incident and ensured the safety and wellbeing of our students, as well as for the quick thinking of a senior band member who reported a noxious smell and the sight of smoke and flames, and who prompted the evacuation of the bus.”
Students and staff returned to Lowell following the performance without any issues. The incident remains under investigation. The Connector contacted BRS Ski Tours, which serviced the impacted bus, but did not hear back.
Those who wish to donate to the marching band can visit tinyurl.com/umlband26.
