A Maryland school bus driver is being hailed as a hero after saving twenty children from a burning bus this week.
According to CBS 20, Reneita Smith–a bus driver for Glengarden Woods Elementary School in College Park, Maryland–was dropping off her passengers on the afternoon of Monday, September 12, when something went dreadfully wrong with her bus. Smith told ABC News that she was on her third stop of the afternoon, in the 9600 block of 51st Avenue in College Park, when the brake light indicator lit up on her dashboard and the bus suddenly filled with smoke. Without a second thought, Smith rushed into the smoke-filled bus to help evacuate the children from the burning bus.
"I jumped up, and I went into mommy mode," Smith told CBS 20. "Somebody yelled 'fire!' when I was smelling the smoke," said one young passenger. "It smelled like a rubber kind of gas!"
Smith scrambled to evacuate the 20 children as the fire spread. She hustled them out of the door and then plunged back into the inferno where she went through the bus seat by seat to make sure all twenty were safely out. No one was injured in the incident, and the children were all picked up at the scene by their parents. College Park Police are currently investigating the cause of the blaze.
Faizul Kabir, who witnessed the incident and recorded a dramatic video showing Smith evacuating her charges, spoke with Smith once she had the children safely off the bus.
"'I am a mom of two kids,'" Kabir said Smith told her, according to CBS. "'It's my job to save them.'"
According to CBS 20, Reneita Smith–a bus driver for Glengarden Woods Elementary School in College Park, Maryland–was dropping off her passengers on the afternoon of Monday, September 12, when something went dreadfully wrong with her bus. Smith told ABC News that she was on her third stop of the afternoon, in the 9600 block of 51st Avenue in College Park, when the brake light indicator lit up on her dashboard and the bus suddenly filled with smoke. Without a second thought, Smith rushed into the smoke-filled bus to help evacuate the children from the burning bus.
"I jumped up, and I went into mommy mode," Smith told CBS 20. "Somebody yelled 'fire!' when I was smelling the smoke," said one young passenger. "It smelled like a rubber kind of gas!"
Smith scrambled to evacuate the 20 children as the fire spread. She hustled them out of the door and then plunged back into the inferno where she went through the bus seat by seat to make sure all twenty were safely out. No one was injured in the incident, and the children were all picked up at the scene by their parents. College Park Police are currently investigating the cause of the blaze.
Faizul Kabir, who witnessed the incident and recorded a dramatic video showing Smith evacuating her charges, spoke with Smith once she had the children safely off the bus.
"'I am a mom of two kids,'" Kabir said Smith told her, according to CBS. "'It's my job to save them.'"
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