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The blaze destroyed the 56-seat bus, which was parked in a lot directly south of Blue Cross Park. (Diljot Garcha photo)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Jeff Greteman, president of Windstar Lines, said he was disappointed and upset after learning the bus had been set on fire.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re a family-owned business and we do have insurance for things like this, but that just creates a significant financial burden on the company when we lose a $425,000 vehicle,\u201d he said from the company\u2019s headquarters in Carroll, Iowa.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been in business for 31 years and we have never had anything like this happen. We\u2019ve never had a bus set on fire.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Cougars, an American Association of Professional Baseball team, was in Winnipeg for a three-game series against the Goldeyes, which concluded Thursday afternoon with a 12-5 victory for the visitors.<\/p>\n
\u201cA very unfortunate incident,\u201d said Goldeyes general manager Andrew Collier. \u201cWe feel very badly for the entire Kane County organization.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is the first time something like this has ever happened in the 32-year history of the franchise, which first hosted teams at the old Winnipeg Stadium before moving to their home at The Forks in 1999, said Collier.<\/p>\n
After transporting the team to their downtown hotel following Wednesday night\u2019s game \u2014 a 3-2 win by the Goldeyes \u2014 the bus driver parked the 2022 Van Hool motorcoach and conducted a post-trip inspection at about 10 p.m.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t A 15-year-old girl is now facing arson charges in connection with the blaze. (Diljot Garcha photo)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cThe vehicle was in fine condition and OK,\u201d Greteman said.<\/p>\n Greteman learned about the fire at about 8 a.m., when the bus driver phoned company headquarters to deliver the news.<\/p>\n The Cougars, meanwhile, had to scramble to find alternative arrangements before they hit the road following Thursday\u2019s game.<\/p>\n \u201cI made a call to a longtime partner of ours, Beaver Bus Lines, and fortunately they had a bus and a driver available on short notice,\u201d said Collier.<\/p>\n Cougars players and staff hopped on board and headed to Fargo, N.D., where they open a three-game series on Friday evening against the RedHawks. A Windstar Lines bus driver will meet them in North Dakota and take them home once that concludes on Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Chris Kitching Chris Kitching is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He began his newspaper career in 2001, with stops in Winnipeg, Toronto and London, England, along the way. After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Chris produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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