Bus driver saves 38 children from fire on Florida highway

LAKE ALFRED, Fla. -- A bus driver saved 38 children's lives on a field trip with her quick thinking and actions Wednesday morning, according to reports. Kristina Buhrman of Florida is being hailed as a hero after she managed to get the children off the bus and away from the vehicle, which shortly afterwards burst into flame.

The bus driver that saved the children's lives is a math teacher at Discovery Academy in Polk County. Buhrman was driving the bus with the students on Interstate 4 when she began to smell gas. Immediately she pulled over and escorted the children off the bus, and just a few moments later it went up in smoke.

"This could have been pretty bad," Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Mary Godino told WESH-TV. "We could have had a tragic situation, but the bus driver was instrumental in pulling over. Once she started to smell gas and smoke, with that combination, she did a fabulous job."

"That bus driver was did exactly what she was trained to do," the officer continued. "She saw a hazard, immediately pulled over, and took care of the situation. She was instrumental in saving all those children."

Buhrman, who had been driving a bus for five years, said she waited until after the children were safe to get emotional.

"I was completely speechless, flabbergasted. I did cry," she admitted, adding that the kids deserved the credit for remaining calm throughout the incident.

"I didn't do anything any other, I hope, bus driver or teacher would do," Buhrman said. "We go to work every day and we're there to educate and protect. That's what we do, that's what we live for."

The smoke from the burning bus shut down I-4 traffic because of low visibility. A second bus was able to make its way to the children to take them to Discovery Academy in Lake Alfred.

The cause of the fire is under investigation now, according to NBC News. The buses for the school must be inspected by law once every 30 days, but records of the bus inspection have not been released.