Bus Driver Saves Dozens Of Kids After Bus Catches Fire

While driving dozens of children home after school one afternoon, one bus driver from Kansas City bus driver noticed smoke coming from the engine.

“I just immediately knew something was wrong,” driver D’Anthony Gildon said. “I’ve never been in a situation like that, and I had so many kids that were counting on me.” The bus quickly caught on fire, and Gildon knew he had to do something to get all 30 kids to safety.

“For five, 10 seconds, I really panicked because I’d never been in a situation like that. I radioed the base told them that I see smoke,” Gildon said. When the fire consumed the front of the bus, Gildon had no choice but to stay calm since all the kids were panicking.

“They were frantic,” Gildon said about the kids. “When I told them we got to evacuate because of the fire, everybody kind of ran towards the middle.” Gildon then yelled to a student at the back of the bus to open the emergency back door and guided the kids to the exit.

“Walking from the front to the back, I was looking at each seat, under each seat, grabbing backpacks,” said Gildon, who is now being hailed a hero. “Man, I’m just glad I got everyone out,” he said. “I’m a normal guy.”