MIDWAY, Fla. (WTXL) — Several students and a bus driver are safe after a school bus caught fire in Midway Wednesday afternoon.
The Midway fire chief says the bus driver pulled into Ochlockonee Pointe Apartments as he noticed smoke coming from the vehicle and helped the students get off safely.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Gadsden County School District made a post on Facebook sharing about an incident involving GCSD Bus 53 in Midway.
WTXL ABC 27 reached out to the sheriff's office about the fire. They sent us these photos from the initial blaze.
The Facebook post from the school district says:
All students were safely evacuated and have been transported on to another bus, and appropriate steps were taken immediately to ensure their well-being.
On scene, the Midway Fire Chief Nathan Yarusso told ABC 27 he believed the fire was electrical in nature and that there were 7 students on the bus. He also said the bus driver is a volunteer firefighter and that he knew what to do when the fire started.
"He did an excellent job of getting the kids off the bus. He had 7 students on the bus, and he immediately, when he saw smoke, he evacuated the bus immediately," Gerard Moore with the Gadsden County School District Transportation Department said.
Moore says students usually take this bus to get to Gadsden County Middle School and High School in Havana.
ABC 27 was there as a tow truck arrived at Ochlockonee Pointe Apartments to take the bus away from the scene.
Chief Yarusso says the fire department has requested for DEP to come to the complex due to the amount of fuel coming from the bus. The chief does not expect the cleanup to impact neighbors who live at the complex.
Want to see more local news? Visit the WTXL ABC 27 Website.
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