Shuttle bus burned in restaurant parking lot

By Uriah A. Kiser

Published: November 12, 2008

When employees of the Bamboo Buffet near Potomac Mills left Monday night, the owner’s shuttle bus sat in the parking untouched. When they returned the next morning it had burned to the ground.

The 30-foot tour bus sat in the restaurant’s parking lot Wednesday afternoon, a charred hull of its former self.

The roof and sides of the vehicle are gone and electrical wires dangle in the wind.

The steering wheel now sits on the ground three-feet away from where the driver would normally sit.

Steel bars in the shapes of seats are all that remain where passengers used to gaze at the sights of the nation’s capital.

Peter Zheng owns the restaurant and what is left of the torched bus. He bought it about six months ago to take tourists from his home country of China to Washington, D.C.

“We only used the bus 3 times,” Zheng said.

Zheng said the fire marshal contacted him about the incident early Tuesday morning. The fire marshal said it would be more than 24-hours before they could begin their investigation, Zheng said.

Calls to Prince William Fire and Rescue Department were not immediately returned for this story.
Zheng said he did not know of anyone who would do this.

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Staff writer Uriah A. Kiser can be reached at 703-878-8065.