No one was injured Monday morning in a bus fire thanks to the quick actions of Lyman Hall Elementary staff.
The bus caught fire at around 7:15 a.m. while waiting in the drop-off lane with students still inside. Principal Angel Rodriguez reportedly heard a loud explosion sound. He immediately saw plumes of smoke rising from under the bus, accompanied by active flames.
“My first instinct was to run toward the bus,” Rodriguez said. “We were calling for emergency services on the radio, but it was a beeline for the bus door to get the door open and get those kids out.”
Rodriguez said he and another bus driver sprang into action and started clearing the bus. Their primary concern was the children’s safety before assessing the fire.
“Once we had all the kids evacuated, they were all safe, we started backing up, my nurse comes out and she's got the fire extinguisher,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez reported that the staff at Lyman Hall take their safety training seriously, having just recently completed an entire battery of safety plans covering many different topics — one of which was fire extinguisher use.
“She [the school nurse] brought out the fire extinguisher, and she's the one that started prepping it,” Rodriguez said. “I heard her saying, ‘Step one. Step two,’ I got to tell her that I don't know if she realized that under that stress, I heard her literally repeat verbatim the training that we had just gotten. I thought it was amazing.”
Rodriguez then approached the flames and used the extinguisher to put out the fire. Units from the Gainesville Fire Department and Hall County Fire Rescue arrived a short time after and ensured the scene was safe.
Rodriguez noted the pride he felt in his staff and their willingness to jump into action.
“All I knew is I have to get to the bus and get those kids off the bus,” Rodriguez said. “So I peeked around the corner because I'm getting the kids off, but who's going to be there to take them? And as I peeked around the corner — there’s staff. I mean, it was a beautiful thing to see.”
According to officials, the cause of the fire was later determined to be an overheated brake system. The bus fire prompted Memorial Drive to shut down until approximately 8 a.m.
The damaged bus was towed from the scene and a replacement was brought in.
Rodriguez was honored during Monday night’s Hall County School Board meeting. Superintendent Will Schofield gave praise, emphasizing the importance of the staff’s actions in preventing something far worse from happening.
