A group of celebrating eighth graders from Santa Ynez Valley Christian Academy were on their way to a fellow student’s home for a party ahead of their graduation when their charter bus caught fire.

Alert Chaperone Saves the Day

Chaperone and parent Keela Gregg noticed an odd clicking sound and smoke coming from the window, prompting her to tell the driver to pull over. She then ordered the students to prepare to leave the bus in an orderly, single-file line and continue down the road and away from the bus.

Thanks to Gregg’s quick thinking, all students made it off the bus unscathed and even went on to their planned pre-graduation party and then onto their graduation ceremony the following day.

As parents, we have reflected on how differently this story could have ended had the smoke gone unnoticed or had the bus continued down the road for just a few more minutes, said Kelly Fiore, whose eldest was on the bus and set to graduate the next day.

Original reporting: KEYT (Ventura/Santa Barbara) — read the source article.