PARIS - A SAD 17 bus, the same model that caught fire and burned Wednesday, was pulled from the fleet Thursday as a precaution. Investigators confirmed the same model had caught fire in Newport last year, Superintendent Mark Eastman said.

The chief mechanic and fire inspector sent by the manufacturer on Thursday to look at the SAD 17 bus that burned looked at the component that was at fault in the Newport incident, Eastman said. "That was not the fault on this bus."

The 2007 Thomas/Freightliner bus was destroyed at about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday when fire erupted in the engine compartment and spread quickly through the bus just before a dozen or so students were to board.

Driver Linda Berry warned them to move away and she escaped the smoke and flames. No one was injured, but Berry was taken to Stephens Memorial Hospital for evaluation.

"I'm hoping they can tell us (the cause) so we can get some peace of mind," Eastman said Thursday.

He said the component in the Newport bus incident was similar to a breaker with electrical components that go through a fuse. In that case, the cover had come off the component, causing the fire. Investigators looking at SAD's 17 bus said the cover was still on the component, so that has been ruled out unofficially as a cause.

"It's fair to say it began in the engine compartment," Eastman said.

The bus was purchased from a company in Kennebunk for $60,000.

Eastman said he learned from the manufacturer's representatives there are 150 of the same 2007 models in northern New England with the Freightliner chassis and Mercedes engine.

Engineers at Thomas Built Buses, the manufacturer of the body, will review pictures of the bus and may send an investigator to SAD 17 to make another review as they try to determine the cause of the fire.

Eastman said he and other school officials reviewed the surveillance tapes from cameras mounted on the north side of the school near the bus loop. It was evident that it took about four minutes from the time the smoke was first spotted on the bus until flames were visible, Eastman said.

He said the tapes showed that staff came running out of the school, some with fire extinguishers, and all efforts were made to ensure every student was out of the area quickly.

If the bus was fully loaded with 50 to 60 students and on the road, Eastman said he believed it could have been evacuated safely within the approximately eight minutes it took for the bus to become fully engulfed, according to what they could see on the surveillance tapes.

Although the bus engine has a fire wall, Eastman said he learned that the fire wall only acts as a retardant and does not stop flames from entering the body of the bus as they did Wednesday, once rubber gaskets that protect certain areas such as wheel wells are melted.

Eastman said the tapes will help school officials determine what, if any, further steps need to be taken to ensure everyone's safety in a similar incident. From all accounts, he said, everything worked as it should have, from the bus driver getting the students away from the bus and warning other drivers to evacuate, to the staff who made sure the students were safe and the students themselves who moved quickly and without question to safety.

"I just want to thank everyone who was involved," Eastman said.

Bus driver Berry was back on the job Thursday, he said.

Eastman said several other school districts, including SAD 39 and the Lakes Region, have offered to help with buses if needed until the burned one is replaced.