An abandoned school bus that had been parked outside of Happy Hound on Mandela Parkway for the past year exploded yesterday. Though the reason for the explosion is unknown, it’s a minor miracle that no one was hurt. This is because the explosion literally blew out the windows, shooting broken glass onto the sidewalk.

According to the owner of Happy Hound, this bus caught fire from the inside and eventually caused a small explosion. As seen in the image below, this charred some of the contents that were stored outside of the bus. Sadly, this doesn’t come as a surprise considering the context of the bus and its inhabitants. Nonetheless, questions have to be raised as to why this bus was allowed to live on the street for so long without recourse.

Speaking on social media, one Oakland resident wrote: “I’ve emailed two of them for a similar issue for over 7 months solid. They just keep saying it’s up to the encampment team. The encampment team always seems to have something more important to do.”

This makes you wonder exactly what the 311 number is actually used for. No wonder locals are angered by the result, but as said – it seems that this was an inevitability. On a brighter note, it truly is fortunate that no one got hurt. Perhaps now, the bus will finally be moved on. It’s just sad that it takes a literal explosion for it to come to this.