A Lawrence city bus was damaged by fire Wednesday afternoon after an apparent catastrophic engine failure.

A Lawrence city bus was damaged by fire Wednesday afternoon after an apparent catastrophic engine failure.

No passengers were on board when the bus caught fire, said Bob Nugent, the city’s new public transit administrator.

“We were lucky,” he said of the incident, which occurred about 12:30 p.m. near Fourth and Maine streets.

The bus was traveling north down Maine Street, when “the driver heard a clunk and a big bang,” Nugent said.

When the driver pulled the bus over and exited the vehicle, the bus became engulfed in flames. No one was injured in the blaze.

Nugent said the bus had just returned to the streets after a recent engine replacement.