ANAHEIM : 24 Passengers Escape as Fire Destroys Bus

A spectacular fire destroyed a chartered tour bus along the Santa Ana Freeway on Friday morning, but all 24 passengers escaped unharmed, California Highway Patrol officials said.

The fire, just north of the Brookhurst Street overpass, created a two-mile traffic jam along the northbound lanes; southbound traffic was also slowed for about an hour as drivers slowed to look, the CHP reported.

The bus ran over a discarded mattress along the freeway about 9:55 a.m. tangling the mattress in the rear axle of the 1992 Ford.

The friction apparently caused the mattress to smoke and burst into flames, which quickly spread to the bus, CHP Officer Diana Corrales said.

Firefighters took about 10 minutes to extinguish the flames.

The driver, Peter Smith, was able to pull the bus to the side of the freeway and let out all of the passengers, Officer John Rolfes said.

The bus had picked up the passengers from various Anaheim hotels Friday morning, and many of them were European tourists headed for Universal Studios.

The charter company, Pacific Tours of Los Angeles, called another bus to pick up the stranded tourists so they could continue to the trip, Rolfes said.

Company officials were not available for comment Friday.