A charred charter bus being used by minor league baseball team Kane County Cougars in an undated photo. The bus was set on fire while the team was playing a series against the Winnipeg Goldeyes.Curtis Haug/The Canadian Press
A minor league baseball team’s charter bus was torched during a series against the Winnipeg Goldeyes.
Police say the bus for the Kane County Cougars of Illinois was parked at Blue Cross Stadium in Winnipeg when it was set on fire early in the morning.
They say a bystander saw someone on the bus and helped to get them off.
No injuries were reported.
Crews extinguished the fire, but police said the bus and its contents were destroyed.
Two teens were arrested, and a 15-year-old girl is facing arson charges.
A spokesperson for U.S.-based Windstar Lines estimates its lost motorcoach has cost the company $425,000.
“We are very disappointed that this could happen to our family-owned company, and the loss of this vehicle will impact our business and operations,” vice-president Pat Greteman said in an e-mail Thursday.
“We are happy that no one was hurt in this reckless act of vandalism and are co-operating with local authorities.”
The Cougars are in Winnipeg for a three-game series that started Tuesday.
Curtis Haug, the team’s vice-president, said players and staff would be travelling back to the United States on another bus that the Goldeyes helped secure.
The Cougars are scheduled to play in Fargo, N.D., this weekend, where Windstar said it would be sending another bus for the team.
The Cougars are part of the American Association of Professional Baseball league, and the Goldeyes are its only Canadian team.