Bus driver rescues 38 kids from burning school bus
POLK COUNTY, Fla. -- A Florida community is hailing a school bus driver as a hero after she safely got nearly 40 kids off her burning bus.
"I'm a bus driver. I was driving down the interstate and all of a sudden, my bus started smoking and now it's in flames," said driver Kristina Buhrman in a 911 recording.
Buhrman made sure the kids stayed a safe distance from the fire. She called 911 after a student yelled there was smoke in the bus, then immediately pulled over and hustled to get all 38 students off the bus.
"The bus driver did a fabulous job of getting all those kids off in time. As you would have known, if they wouldn't get off, it would have been a terrible thing," Florida Highway Patrol trooper Sgt. Mary Godino said.
The fire grew so hot that it blew out the bus' windows, peeled away paint and flattened tires.
