Police Zero in on Bus Barn Suspect

The Mountain View Police Department has located the owner of the trucking company whose vehicle caused the fire that burned the R-III School District's bus barn to the ground Thursday morning. As of press time, the individual driver has not been identified, but the company did confirm their truck was in Mountain View on the date and time of the fire, said Police Chief Jamie Perkins.

Video footage of the incident shows a white semi-truck with a BTS Transport logo pull into the bus barn parking lot when the time stamp reads 3:24 a.m. The truck attempts a U-turn in the parking lot, located on W. Fifth St. In doing so, the top of the truck caught on a live wire and pulled it down in a shower of sparks.

The driver, described by police as "a darker complected male with dark hair" can be seen to lean out of the window and look back at the power line as it catches his box trailer.

"Instead of stopping, the driver continues forward as the power line sparks and is pulled apart, shooting blinding sparks and fire as it falls between his truck and trailer," reads a release from MVPD. "The driver then accelerates out of the parking lot dragging the live power line as it arcs off the truck throwing fiery sparks across the parking lot."

Emergency tones rang out at 4:02 a.m. The reporting party was a truck driver parked at Signal, said Deputy Fire Chief Michael Pauly. Flames were shooting about 30 feet into the air.

Mountain View Fire Department, Willow Springs Fire Department, Eleven Point Rural Fire, Peace Valley, and Summersville Fire Departments responded to battle the blaze. When firefighters arrived, the bus barn was fully engulfed, Dep. Chief Pauly said. 

There were no injuries among firefighters or civilians. The bus barn was a total loss, and a control time was called at 4:47 a.m.

Howell County News spoke to Superintendent of Schools Dr. Don Christensen Thursday afternoon. He reported that, although the building itself is a total loss, none of the buses were damaged. The district was even able to retrieve keys for all the buses as well as the DVR with the surveillance footage of the suspect. 

There was no interruption to the school day, and parents were notified via the school's announcement system. No other school buildings were damaged. 

Until the building can be replaced, the school is renting another location temporarily to serve as the bus barn. Rebuilding is pending an insurance assessment. At the moment, the district's plan is to bulldoze the original location and rebuild in the same location. 

"Nothing can be done until the insurance folks take a look, but it's a no-brainer," Dr. Christenson said. "It'll be fine, just a hassle."