Quick-thinking driver prevents injuries in Rego Park, Queens, school bus fire
NEW YORK -- Everyone escaped unharmed after a school bus fire in Queens, on Tuesday afternoon.
Video shows the intensity of flames, which grew quickly, and smoke.
Thankfully, nobody was injured, but it could have been much worse if it wasn't for the heroism of the person behind the wheel of what's now a totally charred out school bus.
It happened at around 3:45 p.m. on Saunders Street by 65th Boulevard in Rego Park.
The driver said he had six kids between the ages of 5 and 11 on board and was taking them home from school when all of a sudden the front engine on the bus started smoking.
The flames spread quickly, but the driver stayed calmed and got all the kids off and they waited until their parents picked them up.
Meanwhile, the fire spread to five other vehicles and completely ruined a total of three.
"There was diesel fuel involved in the fire and once that really caught, it ignited rapidly," FDNY Battalion Chief Brian Hanrahan said.
Svetlana Arabova said she tried in vain to save her brand new car.
"I went to open the door and I burned myself," Arabova said. "I was very upset and I cannot help."
"There was heavy fire. Actually, the flames were as high as the fourth-floor window," Hanrahan said. "It was almost like a fire tornado. But I just wanted to say the bus driver did an excellent job getting the kids -- there were six kids still on the bus and he got them off quickly before the fire really took off."
"I pulled them out the front and opened up the back door to get them out," the driver said. '"Don't be scared. Everything is going to be all right.' And I called the parents, the school, the company. They were panicking. They are kids, you know."
Witnesses described the heroic actions of the bus driver.
"I heard the bus driver saying, 'Lets go fast. Let's go. Go out. The bus gonna burn,'" Arabova said.
"I see the driver hold the kids by the hands, put them over there," witness Sokrates Xhumbas added.
One man named Ariel came for his 10-year-old brother.
"He told me a few of his friends on the bus started crying. He was trying to calm them down as well because he's a strong kid at heart," Ariel said.
Crews remained on the scene and an investigation is underway.
