A Virginia school bus driver is being lauded as a hero after she corralled at least 20 students off the bus before it burst into flames.
Sondra Artis was driving her regular route when a warning light came on, according to a spokesperson for Surry County Schools.
The driver then began to smell a strange stench just as the defroster shut down, according to a report.
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The bus windows then began to fog, and Artis could tell something was wrong, she said.
Artis pulled into the parking lot of a nearby church and quickly began unloading the students through the vehicle’s front and back exits, the report noted.
“I just had to get them off that bus. That’s what I was determined to do because when I saw that smoke and then with the smell,” Artis said. “I told the kids that, ‘You know, we practice in the beginning of the year, but this is going to be real, so I need you to be calm.'”
Seconds after students were cleared off of the bus and loaded onto a second one, the first was taken over by roaring flames, according to the report.
“All I could say is, thank you, Jesus, my babies are okay and I’m OK,” Artis said.
“Our bus driver, she helped us and she’s a very good bus driver. We all love her. She deserves a reward,” a middle schooler riding the bus said.
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It is not yet clear what caused the vehicle to catch fire, the report noted.
