A school bus fire in Bethel, Minnesota, turned into a dramatic rescue earlier this month when a mother helped evacuate 22 elementary students just moments before flames engulfed the vehicle, reported CBS News.
According to the news report, Kari Thorp was waiting for her daughter’s school bus when she noticed smoke and flames coming from underneath the vehicle as it stopped in front of her home. She quickly alerted the driver, Rick Gratton, and the two acted fast to get the children off the bus safely.
“It was crazy. I’m just thankful that he was very calm,” Thorp said via the article.
Thorp’s Ring doorbell camera captured the scene as students from East Bethel Elementary gathered on her lawn, visibly shaken while flames spread rapidly through the front of the bus.
“Kids were crying. Kids were scared and freaking out,” Thorp told local news reporters. “It was quite emotional and kind of frantic.”
The fire escalated quickly. Within 15 minutes, the front of the bus was fully engulfed, and the intense heat even melted part of the road in front of Thorp’s house.
Though some backpacks, lunch boxes and the bus itself were lost in the fire, no injuries were reported. The students’ safe evacuation is being credited to the swift response of Thorp and Gratton as well as the children’s recent school bus safety training.
Both Thorp and Gratton were recognized for their “heroic efforts” in getting all students to safety by St. Francis Area Schools. Thorp reflected on how different things might have turned out if she hadn’t been outside at the time.
“I don’t think he would have gotten very far. And I don’t think we would have been able to get those kids off the bus as fast,” she said via the report. “A lot of little ones sit up front, and that’s where it all started.”
An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the fire.
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