SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah bus driver was sentenced to five years in prison for setting a school bus with 42 children inside on fire.
Driver's guilty plea details
Michael Ford, a 60-year-old who’s worked at the Granite School District since 1998, pleaded guilty to intentionally setting a district bus on fire using a cigarette lighter.
Details of the 2023 fire
In April 2023, surveillance footage shows Ford igniting a bus and “continuing to drive the bus, despite smoke billowing past his face,” according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. The video shows no children on the bus, and no injuries were reported.
Evidence of tampering and arson history
Prosecutors said Ford tried to tamper with the bus’s video surveillance system days before setting it on fire.
“Through further investigation, (the investigating officer) has learned that Michael Ford … was involved in a total of eight fires. Four bus fires involving Granite School District (buses), two fires at his residence located in West Valley City, one vehicle fire in Bluffdale, and one additional vehicle fire in 2009,” according to an affidavit.
Pattern of multiple bus fires
Police said the four bus fires were all reported to be electrical in the dashboard area and started while Ford was driving the buses.
He pleaded guilty in March to arson of a vehicle belonging to a federally funded organization.
Details regarding children on board
In 2022, attorneys said Ford started a fire on a bus with 42 children inside.
“Multiple students are seen covering their faces with their shirts and coughing,” according to an affidavit. Ford then stopped the bus, and the students got out, police said. He used a fire extinguisher to put out the fire. No one was injured. The charge connected to this was dismissed as part of Ford’s plea agreement.
Previous incidents and investigation findings
In 2017, a bus was partially engulfed in flames, scorching the scaffolding of the bus. No children were inside and no injuries were reported. At the time, police believed the bus had mechanical issues but later confirmed Ford was the bus driver.
“Given the nature of the four bus fires with the same driver with them all starting in the same area of the bus, Michael Ford lighting the dash area on fire while driving the bus on April 7, it is reasonable to conclude that Michael Ford is responsible for these fires,” police said in the affidavit.
Three years following the 2023 fire, Ford has been sentenced.
“We are grateful for the efforts of Granite Police, West Valley Police and the Utah State Fire Marshall who helped investigate this matter as well as the prosecutors who were involved in the case,” a spokesman with the Granite School District told KSL in a statement. “We are glad to see that the legal process has played out and we are thankful for the end result.”
Ford was sentenced to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay more than $21,000 in restitution.
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