Muna safe after tour bus catches fire on California freeway

Muna are safe after their tour bus caught fire on a freeway in Burbank, California, on Monday 19 October. The blaze was reported in the morning on the southbound 5 freeway. The band said many personal items were lost, but all members escaped unharmed.

California Highway Patrol, the state agency that patrols major roads, received a call at 8.00 a.m. about a bus in flames, Rolling Stone. The driver reportedly did not realise the vehicle was on fire. The bus pulled over on an off-ramp. Crews from the Burbank Fire Department met it there and put out the fire.

Muna confirmed the outcome soon after the incident. Everyone on board is safe. The loss, the band said, was personal belongings carried on the bus.

The fire followed a concert at Stanford, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. That show came before the incident on Interstate 5, the long north-south route through California. The Stanford date was part of the Gets So Hot Tour. That run kicked off on 25 September in Philadelphia.

The line-up includes Naomi McPherson, who plays guitar and synths and sings in Muna. In September the band announced she would step away for several tour dates. The reason given was to care for her mother Harriet. Harriet was in the terminal stages of cancer.

What makes this stand out is the narrow margin in a bus fire. A driver who cannot see flames at first depends on alerts from other road users and a fast emergency call. Moving to an off-ramp takes a burning vehicle out of fast-moving lanes and gives fire crews room to work.

For fans, this means attention now turns to the next date on the schedule. Muna are listed to play Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre outside Denver on 21 October. That open-air date comes before a move to Europe. Crews now face the unglamorous work of sorting what was saved, what was lost and what must be replaced on the road.