Kids were rushed off a bus shortly before it became engulfed in flames Wednesday afternoon. The scary incident happened in the middle of a St. Charles neighborhood.
A resident said he saw the back of the bus on fire, so ran over to help get the kids off. The students on the bus were from Bryan Middle School.
The bus went up in flames in the 900 block of Haversham Drive Wednesday afternoon. Dave Trampe said he noticed the back of the bus was on fire, so he ran over to tell the bus driver.
"He was in the initial stages of investigating the smoke and the smell of smoke," Trampe said.
Trampe said it then became a race against the clock to get at least 42 kids off the bus. Trampe said he was directing the kids away from the burning vehicle.
"It was a little difficult to get everybody rounded up and away because they were enthralled with the flames," he said.
Trampe's wife, Carla, ran out of the house when she saw the burning bus. She wasn't sure where her husband was at at the time, or if there were kids were on the bus while it was full of smoke.
The Cottleville Fire Protection District and St. Charles County police responded to the fire. School district leaders said the bus driver and the students followed their safety evacuation procedures.
No one was hurt.
"I'm just happy everyone got off," Trampe said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
