00:00Well, it was a close call for some students at East Bethel Elementary when their school bus caught fire earlier this month.
00:06And it was an alert mom who helped to make the outcome a good one.
00:10Fox 9's Karen Scullin has the story.
00:13This is how the afternoon ended for some East Bethel Elementary students and mom, Carrie Thorpe.
00:19It was scary, but I think, like I said, I think I just had so much adrenaline going that at that time I was just worried about getting everybody off.
00:26Carrie had just stepped out to get her six-year-old off the bus, but she immediately saw flames shoot out above the front tire and started yelling fire at the bus driver.
00:36She then went into mom mode.
00:39I think I was just so worried, like, get these kids off the bus, get the bus driver off, get everybody to safety.
00:44And then I think once we moved everybody down is when my heart was, like, more, like, pounding.
00:48The kids first gathered on her front porch.
00:50Some were shaking, others crying.
00:52They moved down the street and away from the burning bus, then huge explosions, the tires blowing up, first the front right, then the left.
01:03After the fire was put out, the kids were all safe at home.
01:06And a couple of days passed, Carrie started really processing what had happened and realized how the outcome could have been much worse.
01:14About a week later, they all gathered to give the bus driver a thankful basket, and they surprised Carrie with one, too.
01:21A lot of emotions just, you know, keep coming up the more you kind of talk about it and, you know, realize how amazing this community is.
01:29A terrifying ordeal with a good outcome, thanks to parents, neighbors, and friends.
01:35In East Bethel, Karen Scullin, Fox 9.
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