Image by Ed Brennen
Chancellor Julie Chen presents senior music studies major Glen Njeru with a citation for courage and leadership for his actions in helping to evacuate the marching band's burning bus.
“Hey Siri! Call Deb!”
As flames began to envelop the back of the 51Ƶ Marching Band’s charter bus on Oct. 19, senior Glen Njeru barked the command into his phone while rushing 40 of his bandmates out of their seats and down the aisle toward safety.
Moments earlier, Njeru — an electric bass soloist and student leader in the band — had heard a “violent popping noise” and smelled burning rubber. He thought maybe a tire had blown, so he called Associate Director of University Bands Deb Huber, who was driving behind the bus.
“I wanted her to know something might be wrong,” Njeru said.
The smell seemed to fade, though, as the bus continued down I-95 toward Norwood, where the band was scheduled to make an exhibition performance at a high school marching band competition that Sunday afternoon.
Image by Westwood Firefighters Local 1994
Westwood firefighters work to extinguish the 51Ƶ marching band's burning bus after it was successfully evacuated.
That’s when Njeru called Huber back and started working with junior Elliot Lemke to evacuate everyone.
“I could hear everything on the phone,” Huber said. “Glen was calm, but very direct. He told me what he saw, and then he started shouting to the others to get off the bus. His leadership and composure under pressure were truly exceptional.”
“We were all trying to stay together,” Njeru said. “We had our hands on each other’s backs, just pushing forward to get out.”
Everyone escaped safely. Within moments, the entire rear of the bus was engulfed in flames.
Huber, who stayed on the phone throughout, said she was in awe of the students’ composure.
“I am extraordinarily proud of all the students on the bus for their calm, quick and courageous response during such a frightening situation,” she said. “Their ability to act swiftly and look out for one another demonstrates remarkable presence of mind and teamwork.”
By the time firefighters arrived, the bus was fully ablaze. Dozens of students lost uniforms and personal belongings like phones, laptops and wallets that they didn’t have time to grab. Most of the instruments were spared, however, as they were in storage compartments near the front of the bus that did not burn.
Rather than cancel the show, the stranded band members decided to continue to Norwood and perform with 50 bandmates who were traveling on a second bus. That bus doubled back and got them to Norwood High School just in time for their performance.
Image by Westwood Firefighters Local 1994
After their bus was totally destroyed by fire, the 40 stranded members of the UML Marching Band continued to their performance in Norwood on a second bus.
, Huber said, was “incredibly emotional, but focused.” The audience gave a standing ovation — some in sympathy, others simply impressed by the quality of the show, she said.
“It was amazing how good we sounded,” Njeru said. “If you closed your eyes, you wouldn’t have known that we’d just come off a burning bus.”
Director of University Bands Dan Lutz was inspired by the students’ ability to perform under those circumstances.
“To muster that level of focus after such trauma was an honor to witness,” he said. “That kind of mental and emotional control is a bit of a superpower that will serve them well in life.”
Njeru, a music studies major from Lowell, said the performance helped the students process what had happened.
“Having something creative to focus on lifted a weight off me,” he said. “It gave us something positive to pour our energy into.”
Back on campus the next day, university staff helped students replace lost items and offered counseling resources. Huber and Lutz gathered the band to process the experience together.
A few days later, Chancellor Julie Chen presented Njeru with a citation for courage and leadership.
“Glen is an amazing example of our students,” Chen said. “He showed calm leadership in a dangerous situation, and he continues to inspire others through his teaching and music.”
In the wake of the fire, support has poured in from across campus and beyond. A local music company donated replacement shoes and gloves, while a nearby college loaned the ensemble marching hats, known as shakos, so they could continue performing. The band’s uniform supplier is rushing to produce new shakos and will donate them free of charge, Huber said.
Image by Ed Brennen
"Glen is an amazing example of our students," Chancellor Julie Chen says of senior marching band member Glen Njeru.
“The outpouring from alumni, colleagues and the greater band community has been remarkable,” said Huber, who also credited Provost Joe Hartman for his immediate outreach.
“His prompt communication and support were invaluable,” she said. “He made sure the students had what they needed as we began to recover.”
Lutz said the ordeal has brought the marching band closer than ever.
“Any shared momentous event, whether extremely positive or extremely negative, can serve to bind a group together,” he said. “But this situation — the juxtaposition of a traumatic event followed by 90-plus musicians focusing in unison to achieve a shared goal at such a high level — that’s the kind of shared experience that forges a permanent link.”
Njeru agrees.
“We were all shaken, but we came together,” he said.
A few days later, the marching band got back on charter buses and headed to Quincy to perform at the Massachusetts Instrumental and Choral Conductors Association state finals. At the event, the UMass Amherst marching band by playing the UML fight song, “River Hawk Pride.”