Agreed. And Mattresses are “formulated” not to burn. Mattress fires were a big deal 20 years ago, when people were falling asleep with cigarettes.
Yes, it’s going to burn - but the material itself isn’t going to go up like flash paper.
The exhaust pipes in these buses are swept upwards, and contained a few inches (Like 12) from the lowest point of the engine bay. The oil pan is down that low, guarded by a cage to protect against real object (Like a cinder block)
A folded mattress will roll out from under the bus. In fact, a flat mattress might find some sort of catch under the bus (Like an exposed bolt) and then slide along the ground. This will be the greatest concentration of heat on the mattress. If it bunches up and rolls, it will ultimately roll out from under the bus (I’ve hit a mattress with a box truck, and it’s noticeable.)
The cars next to the bus also took quite a bit of heat damage. I’m looking at pictures now for concussion damage. I did see that one of the cars has it’s windscreen blown out from the inside. This is very strange.
I once drove by an empty school bus fully engulfed on an
interstate. I was probably in the 3rd lane, with the bus in the
breakdown lane.
I could feel the IR from the fire through the closed passenger
window on my skin while in the drivers seat in my A/C'd car
doing at least 55mph while passing it by.
How does one drive over a MATRESS? Wouldn’t you see it in the road?
I see cardboard boxes in the road and am not stupid enough to drive over them with my car.
It could be
A) empty
B) filled with puppies
C) filled with engine parts
D) filled with explosives
Why play the odds?