Fire officials are investigating what caused a school bus to catch fire and go up in flames as it waited outside Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School in Paris.

Fire Chief Brad Frost said the driver was waiting to pick up some students late Wednesday afternoon when he noticed smoke.

The driver tried to put out the fire with an extinguisher, but it quickly spread from the engine compartment to the rest of the bus, with the entire vehicle up in flames by the time firefighters arrived.

No students were on board at the time, but the driver was taken to a hospital after inhaling some power from the fire extinguisher.