Investigators still don’t know for sure what caused a school bus in Big Pine to catch fire and burn, but Inyo Sheriff Bill Lutze has offered a reward of $500 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the fire.

The bus had reportedly been taken out of service to trade in on a new bus. It’s a blackened hull of metal now. A truck driver passing by the school at 2:15 AM Tuesday saw the fire and called it in. Big Pine firefighters took over. The bus was a total loss.

A Cal Fire arson investigator from San Bernardino inspected the fire scene and so did Inyo Sheriff’s detectives. Officers said that a thorough search of the bus resulted in finding no natural cause for the fire. At this time, the fire has been determined to be man-caused, but it’s unknown if it were intentional or accidental in nature.

Anyone with information should call Sheriff’s Investigator Paul Bedell or Sergeant Jeff Hollowell at 873-7887.