JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — All eastbound lanes on Interstate 10 at Cassat Avenue in Jacksonville were closed Wednesday morning, but have since reopened after a school bus caught fire, according to Florida Highway Patrol.
First responders with the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department responded to the scene and told First Coast News that no one suffered any injuries.
"We are aware of this situation," Duval County Public Schools tells First Coast News. "Thankfully, there were no students on board and the driver is safe. The bus is Durham bus #349."
The FHP crash report states that at 8:23 a.m., the school bus was traveling in the right lane on I-10, east of Lane Avenue.
"Just after the right curve, there was a mattress in the right lane," the report states.
FHP says due to heavy traffic, the school bus was unable to avoid the mattress. As a result, the bus struck the mattress, as the mattress became lodged underneath the bus thus, starting the fire, the report states.
The bus stopped in the right lane before "becoming fully engulfed in flames," the report states.
"The driver was able to get out the vehicle before becoming engulfed in flames," the report states. "Jacksonville Fire and Rescue put the fire out with no incident."
While opening her salon for the day, owner of A Dose of Beauty, Semaj Hawkins, saw the whole thing right before her eyes.
"You can't really see from the bottom down here but you could definitely see the flames from a mile away. And it was just getting worse and worse and worse until the firefighters got here really fast," she said.
Hawkins say because of the traffic on I-10, some of her clients and staff missed their salon appointments.
