On Saturday, January 7, 2023, at 7:45 p.m., the Barron County 911 Center received a call of a coach bus on fire on Hwy 53 just south of the Barron exit.
Deputies from the Barron County Sheriff’s Department along with the Cameron Fire Department, MMC Ambulance, Barron and Cameron Police Departments and the WI State Patrol responded to the scene.
Initial investigation shows the coach bus out of the Milwaukee area started on the fire in the rear of the bus, possibly with the brake system in the rear tires. 15 athletes, a coach and his son and the bus driver, all from the Milwaukee School of Engineering on the way home from a wrestling meet, escaped off the bus with no injuries. The bus and all its contents were a total loss.
The team and driver were transported to the Barron County Sheriff’s Department where they feasted on some jail snack packs and sandwiches and waited for a new bus to pick them up and transport them back to Milwaukee. Hwy 53 was closed by for approximately two hours with the help of the Barron County Hwy Department. The bus was removed with the help of S and R Towing.
