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SEARCHThe bus driver with Monarch Academy was able to evacuate the students from the bus before it caught fire. The driver was treated for smoke inhalation.
BALTIMORE — A school bus driver here was injured and treated for smoke inhalation after evacuating students from their school bus just before it caught fire on Thursday, WBFF reports.
The incident occurred at the intersection of Loch Raven Boulevard and Cold Spring Lane, according to the news source.
Alexis Rice, a spokesperson for The Children’s Guild, told WBFF that the school bus was carrying 20 students from Monarch Academy, a charter school operated by The Children’s Guild, when the fire started. Rice added that all of the students on board were safely evacuated, and no one was injured.
Ginelle Hunter, one of the students on board the bus, told WBALTV that the front of the bus started smoking, and the bus driver grabbed the extinguisher and tried to put the fire out. In a statement sent to the news source, The Children’s Guild said they commended the bus driver and aide for following Baltimore City Public Schools’ procedures and safely getting the students off the bus. Mayor Catherine Pugh also said in a tweet that she was grateful for the driver’s dedication and response to the fire and protecting the students on board.
Rice told WBFF that Monarch Academy will reach out to students and their families to offer any support they may need, and that the Baltimore City Fire Department is working with the bus company to determine how the fire started.
View the full tweet, from Mayor Pugh below.
So very grateful to this dedicated and responsive school bus driver who saw danger and prevented it from affecting the children in his care. I look forward to thanking him personally, as I know the many parents do as well!
— Mayor Catherine Pugh (@MayorPugh50) February 14, 2019
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