DOUGLASVILLE, GA (WSB/CNN) – A school bus driver in Georgia is being hailed as a hero after she helped evacuate middle school students when the bus filled up with smoke following a fiery crash.
After a pickup truck hit a Douglas County School Bus Friday, bus driver Shuronda Crawford-Richardson remained calm, her only concern the three students on board.
"All of them are my babies. I treat them like my own,” Crawford-Richardson said. "The bus actually went over. We thought it was going to roll, and I could only think about the children because I didn't have time to even warn them or tell them that this was happening. It just happened."
As soon as the bus stopped, the driver checked on her students.
"I got up, checked on the kids again, and that's when we noticed that we seen smoke. I didn't think it was that bad, but it just got worse,” Crawford-Richardson said.
The bus had caught fire.
Crawford-Richardson and a few good Samaritans who stopped to help rushed the children off.
"The bus was definitely on fire, so I told the kids to run,” Crawford-Richardson said.
The bus driver says the kids are heroes for following directions, and she’s just relieved “her babies” made it off the bus safely.
"I'm just grateful that things turned out as well as it did,” Crawford-Richardson said.
The bus driver will be honored by the Douglas County School District for her lifesaving actions.
It’s unclear what caused the crash or if the truck driver will be charged.
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