Driver saves 20 kids from burning school bus. Then she runs back into the flames

A Maryland school bus driver is being called a hero after she got 20 elementary school students off a bus that caught fire on Monday afternoon. Renita Smith, who drives for Prince George’s County Public Schools, acted fast when she saw warning signs while taking children home from school in College Park.

The incident happened around 4:45 p.m. on Monday along the 9600 block of 51st Avenue in College Park. Smith had just finished her third or fourth stop of the afternoon when the bus dashboard started beeping. She right away smelled smoke and looked in her side mirror to see flames spreading through the vehicle.

Without waiting, Smith stopped the bus and jumped into action. “I put the mic back down, undid my seat belt, jumped up, got my babies and got off,” Smith told ABC News. She helped all 20 children, between ages 4 and 9, get off the bus one by one. Neighbors who saw what was happening quickly came to help, taking the scared students to safety in their yards while Smith made an important decision.

Bus driver went back inside to check every seat

After making sure all the children were off the bus, Smith made one last trip back onto the burning vehicle. She wanted to check every seat and make sure that no child had been left behind. “I ran back onto the bus to make sure there was no children on the bus,” she said. “By the time I got to the last step on the bus, it just went up in smoke.”

Video footage released by the Branchville Volunteer Fire Company showed bright orange flames shooting through the bus as thick black smoke came out of the vehicle. The bus was completely destroyed by the fire. Officials believe the fire started near one of the rear wheels, possibly because of broken brakes, and quickly spread throughout the entire bus.

None of the 20 students from Robert Goddard Elementary School and Glenarden Woods Elementary School were hurt in the incident. Most were picked up by their parents at the scene. Smith, a mother of two herself, explained what she was thinking during the emergency. “When I’m driving them, you’re my children until I drop you off to your biological parents,” she said. “I have to handle each child with care, as a mommy would her own, so that’s what I did.”

Prince George’s County officials praised Smith for staying calm throughout the whole thing. The school district later held a celebration at Glenarden Woods Elementary School to honor her quick thinking and bravery that saved 20 young lives. Smith’s actions show the kind of caring nature that helps people jump into action during emergencies, much like other heroes who have saved children from dangerous situations. Her motherly approach to caring for the students is very different from other bus incidents where drivers made bad choices that left children scared and parents worried.