A former school bus driver is facing federal charges after prosecutors say he set two school buses ablaze — including one with 42 children inside the vehicle in Utah.

Michael Austin Ford, who used to drive for the Granite School District in Salt Lake County, was ordered detained pending trial on March 1, court records show.

The 58-year-old West Valley City resident is a danger “to the entire community,” according to a detention order signed by Magistrate Judge Cecilia M. Romero.

The risk of danger was described as “high,” the order shows.

McClatchy News contacted Ford’s court-appointed federal public defender, Benjamin A. Hamilton, for comment on March 4 and didn’t receive an immediate response.

The first fire with students on board

In February 2022, Ford used an “ignition device” to set fire to a Granite School District bus while driving 42 children, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah said in a March 2 news release.

Once the fire was lit, he kept driving through traffic as smoke gathered and billowed “past his face towards the back of the bus where children were seated,” according to video footage, prosecutors said.

The smoke originated from underneath the bus’ dashboard, the video shows, according to a Nov. 2 statement issued by Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill.

Students were seen coughing and covering their faces from the smoke, the district attorney said. One child ultimately sought treatment for smoke inhalation, the leading cause of fire-related deaths.

Ford stopped the bus after the students reported the smell and evacuated the children from the vehicle, according to the district attorney’s statement.

Then, he put out the fire with a fire extinguisher, according to an information filed in court in Salt Lake County.

In state court in November, Ford was charged with 10 counts of first-degree felony aggravated arson and second-degree felony aggravated child abuse in connection with the fire, according to the district attorney.

The second school bus fire

Similar to the first fire, Ford is accused of setting fire to another Granite School District bus while in traffic in April 2023, according to federal prosecutors.

This time, he was seen doing so on video, prosecutors said.

“Again, Ford continued to drive the bus with smoke billowing past his face,” according to prosecutors.

Surveillance footage showed Ford using a lighter to ignite electrical components below the bus’ dashboard as the vehicle was stopped, according to the information filed in court.

“Ford continues driving the bus, looking down several times at the smoke and intermittently visible flames,” a statement of probable cause says. “A few minutes later the fire is extinguished.”

The video footage was captured after the bus’ surveillance system was altered to keep recording in the event that it was manually turned off, according to the information.

Granite School Police arrested Ford a few days later and questioned him before he was released, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

The area transportation manager for the school district told investigators that Ford “disabled his bus’ video surveillance system or had issues with the system several times,” the statement of probable cause says.

He was ultimately charged in state court with second-degree felony arson and second-degree felony obstructing justice in relation to this fire, the Nov. 2 news release from the Salt Lake County district attorney said.

On Feb. 21, a federal grand jury indicted Ford on two counts of arson of a vehicle of an organization receiving federal funds, according to federal prosecutors.

More fires?

In addition to the two school bus fires, Ford is accused of driving on two separate occasions when fires started on school buses, according to the information filed in court. It wasn’t said when these additional fires occurred.

The origin of all four fires was the same: the flames came from underneath the vehicles’ dashboards, the information says.

The court filing notes there’s also been fires at two of Fords’ homes and a fire involving his car.

A fire related to his car is referenced in his federal detention order, which says Ford has been living in a garage due to “fire damage to his home.”

In regards to the fire on the school bus with children aboard, Ford is accused of delaying extinguishing the fire, “further endangering the students,” his federal detention order says.

He started working for the Granite School District in 1998, until he was put on leave in April and fired in June, district spokesperson Ben Horsley told the Salt Lake Tribune.

Ford is due back in federal court on April 29, when a jury trial is set to take place.

West Valley City is about 10 miles southwest of Salt Lake City.

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