Boom Goes the School Bus

As I drove down the school driveway I breathed a sigh of relief because the line was not too long...I was afraid that I was running late. I pulled in and parked behind the last car in line. To my left, I noticed some of the buses had pulled out of the parking lot and were lining up in a row. This driveway is not very wide and the parking lot is not that big...people sometimes drive like idiots, speeding down the driveway without a care.

So I thought it was a little unusual that the buses were outside the bus parking lot...but nothing had clicked yet. From my rearview window, I saw a firetruck coming down the driveway, then pulling into the bus parking lot. In my mind, there were still no warning bells...the siren wasn't on, no one else seemed concerned. Then BOOM!!! I didn't know where that noise came from, but I knew it wasn't good. Black smoke just billowed from the bus parking lot....and as I pulled up just a little more, I could see a bus parked all by itself, hood up and firemen all around it. Soon, teachers and other staff members were all in the front of the school, trying to direct traffic...2 rows in, 2 rows out, and they had us pulling in the teacher lot on the other side of the parking lot where the bus had just been on fire!

There was no way my kids would see where I was parked, so I walked up to the front where are the kids that are car riders were waiting. My youngest and his friend that we carpool with were completely fine...with almost a hint of excitement that something had happened, but yet, they didn't quite know what. But my middle one, he was a mess. I don't know if he thought the same thing would happen to him, or that he was going to get hurt...I just don't know. But he has been in meltdown mode the entire afternoon and night.

As it turns out, there was a whole series of events that ended with the bus fire. A child fainted on the playground so they called an ambulance...child was taken to hospital. Then, kids are getting on the bus...one child already on the bus, pushed another child off the steps of the bus...the child's head hit the pavement hard and soon, there was blood. So they called the ambulance back, and the child's mother. The ambulance took the child, but the mother's car wouldn't start. So they tried to jump start the car from the bus. That is when the bus caught fire. One of the teachers ended up taking the mom to the hospital, and the fire was put our initially by the fire extinguishers kept on the bus.

What an ordeal! Have you ever pulled up to your kids school with a firetruck or ambulance there?