An investigation is underway after several vehicles owned by the Toms River School District were damaged in a fire Friday morning, officials said.

Toms River Police Officer John Minor was on patrol along Route 37 around 2:30 a.m. when he saw smoke on the south side of the highway. He searched the area and found several vehicles engulfed in flames in the school district’s transportation storage area on Industrial Way, police said.

Authorities said two Chevrolet buses and one Ford bus suffered extensive damage. Minor secondary exposure damage was done to a Ford F-150 pickup truck. The vehicles are owned by the Toms River School District and they were within the transportation storage area at the time of the incident.  Officers are still on the scene and the cause of the fires remains under investigation. 

Authorities said their department worked overnight with Toms River School District Superintendent David Healy and his staff to ensure that no bus routes Friday morning were negatively affected.

The investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing.