Short of a bus crash, the worst thing that could happen on a minor league road trip happened to the Kane County Cougars of the American Association on their road trip this weekend.

While parked outside Winnipeg, Manitoba’s Blue Cross Park overnight on May 21, the Cougars’ team bus was set aflame in an act of arson according to a Facebook post from the Winnipeg Police Service.

“A bystander nearby observed someone inside the bus and assisted in removing them. Upon police arrival, two teens were taken into custody. Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service extinguished the fire and thankfully nobody was injured,” the post said.

A source close to the team told World Baseball Network that other that some personal items, nothing significant was lost in the fire. According to a report in the Chicago Tribune, the 56-passenger bus belonged to Windstar Lines out of Iowa and was valued at around $425,000.

The Cougars beat Winnipeg 12-5 the next day and got another bus to take them from Winnipeg to Fargo, N.D. for their next series. A bus from Windstar Lines will meet them in Fargo to bring the team back to Kane County, west of Chicago.

Investigators from the WPS’s Major Crimes Unit determined the fire was deliberately set, and charged a 15-year-old female with Arson Causing Damage to Property and Possession of Incendiary Material. The WPS said the individual was released and turned over to a responsible adult.
This is the second bus fire involving a team in the American Association in three years. In 2024, a mechanical issue with a bus carrying the Sioux City Explorers to a road series near Chicago caused a fire that destroyed that team’s bus in Earlham, Iowa.
Photo: The Kane County Cougars team bus was set aflame in an alleged arson in Winnipeg last week. (Kane County Cougars)