Fear Factory Tour Bus Catches Fire

Rock 'n' roll and pyrotechnics go hand-in-hand, but certainly not in this case. The members of cyber metallers Fear Factory narrowly escaped a major fire on their tour bus while in Europe this morning. The bus, en route to London and carrying the band and crew, was stopped and those inside were led to safety, thankfully. The same cannot be said for some computers, wallets and other personal effects, though. That is a small price to pay, as everyone made it out with their lives!

However, traffic was backed up after two lanes of the highway were closed while the fire was dealt with on scene. The blaze was contained in about 40 minutes. The fire reportedly stemmed from a back wheel tire before spreading throughout the double-decker coach.

Fear Factory guitarist Dino Cazares released the following comment moments ago about the terrifying ordeal, saying, "We had just finished playing a sold out show in Sheffield and we were on our way to London. Everyone was asleep except for two of our crew. At about 3:30 AM, the bus driver noticed smoke coming from the back right wheel. He stopped, jumped out and noticed a flame underneath the wheel well. He tried to extinguish it but the flames were too much. Everyone on the bus was woken up by one of our crew yelling 'Get everyone up and out of the bus.' Everyone grabbed their bags and ran off the bus. We stood on the side of the freeway going 'Thank God we all made it out' until someone noticed our merchandise guy was still asleep on the bus. A good friend of ours ran back on the smoked-filled bus and got him out just minutes before the bus was completely in flames."

The band is currently on tour in the U.K., continuing performances in support of their latest album, 'Mechanize.' Cazares also elaborated on how narrowly the band averted a major tragedy, since the bus became engulfed in flames quickly. Cazares said, "Our eyes are burning and we were all coughing from the smoke. Some of us lost wallets, money, computers but that's not important compared to our lives. It only took about 20 to 30 minutes for the bus to be completely covered in flames. The fire trucks and the police finally arrived but it was too late to save anything on the bus. A coach bus picked us up and brought us safely to a nearby hotel. We found out only a short while ago that the trailer was saved where all our gear was. But the bus is just a metal frame on the side of the road."

While the bus is toast, we are thrilled that the band, crew and their gear are safe and sound.