Tour bus fire shuts down northbound lanes of U.S. 501

A fire that sparked on a tour bus temporarily shut down traffic on U.S. Highway 501 north near Galivants Ferry at the county line Monday morning, according to our Grand Strand News Alliance partner, WPDE.

The station reported that the northbound lanes were closed until the fire was extinguished and that no one appeared to be injured.

The driver was the only one on the bus that was destroyed by the blaze around 10:15 a.m., according to WMBF.

Photos submitted to The Sun News by a motorist at the scene showed the tour bus fully engulfed in flames under a towering dark plume of smoke.

Ashley Landreth, of Greenville, said traffic was stopped for two hours while crews worked to extinguish the flames and clear the scene.

Lanes were reopened to traffic around noon, according to a Facebook post from Marion Rural Fire Department, which responded to the scene. The Marion City Fire Department, Horry County Fire Rescue and Rains Volunteer Fire Department provided mutual aid.

This story was originally published June 5, 2017 at 12:05 PM with the headline "Tour bus fire shuts down northbound lanes of U.S. 501."