Passengers flee a bus that caught fire Friday, April 19, 2024, as St. Johns County residents traveled to Tallahassee. | Photo provided to News4Jax.
Published on April 19, 2024 at 11:37 am
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A bus caught fire this morning as supporters of a proposed Black history museum in St. Augustine made their way to Tallahassee.
The bus caught fire on Interstate 10 just west of Glen St. Mary in Baker County. All of the more than 50 people on board escaped major injuries.
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First responders from the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office and St. Johns County Fire Rescue sent vans to pick up the wayward passengers in Macclenny and escort them to a meeting in Tallahassee.
St. Augustine resident Vicki Pepper was sitting on the back of the bus when she heard a noise and saw smoke filling the air.
“The smoke kept getting thicker and more noxious,” she told Jacksonville Today. “Those of us in the back were choking.”
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Once they got off the bus and the fire was put out, Baker County Sheriff’s Office deputies loaded the group into a school bus and they were taken to Macclenny to meet up with their St. Johns County escort.
The community members were headed to Tallahassee to meet with the state task force that will give a recommendation to the governor and Legislature for where the future Florida Black History Museum should be located. St. Johns County was informed earlier this week that it is the top-ranked site for the museum along with Eatonville/Orange County, Sarasota and Opa-locka.
Once they made it to Tallahassee, Pastor Anthony Britton Sr. of New Mt. Moriah Christian Ministry in West Augustine told the task force that St. Augustine was the best place to put the museum.
“People suffered. Who is going to tell the story better than St. Augustine?” he asked. “We rose to the occasion (this morning), and that’s what we’re going to do in St. Johns County.”
After Friday’s meeting, the top three locations will go to the state for a final decision.
