A Coast school bus filled with students caught fire. An alert driver saved the day.

Poplarville High School student council members were on their way to a meeting Saturday morning at St. Martin High School when the driver heard a noise from a rear tire and got out to check it.

His quick action allowed about 25 students aboard to escape a fire that quickly spread.

Flames erupted around the rear tire and the driver got all the students off the bus, said Sgt. Chris Goff of the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office. An emergency call came in on the fire at 7:46 a.m., Goff said.

The fire spread quickly and was “fully involved” when the Fort Bayou Volunteer Fire Department arrived.

“All the students were down the road,” Goff said. “Everybody was safe and accounted for.”

Another bus arrived to take the students to their meeting.

Anita Lee

Sun Herald

601-909-0638

Anita, a Mississippi native, graduated with a journalism degree from the University of Southern Mississippi and previously worked at the Jackson Daily News and Virginian-Pilot, joining the Sun Herald in 1987. She specializes in in-depth coverage of government, public corruption, transparency and courts. She has won state, regional and national journalism awards, most notably contributing to Hurricane Katrina coverage awarded the 2006 Pulitzer Prize in Public Service. Support my work with a digital subscription