MISSOURI CITY, Texas – Officials with the Fort Bend Independent School District will inspect several of the buses in its fleet following a bus fire at an elementary school Tuesday afternoon.
The bus burst into flames as it was parked and picking up children at Quail Valley Elementary School around 3 p.m.
"I saw something that looked like garbage except it started flaming up and I'm like, 'What is that?'" said second grader Cameron Sherman.
Sherman said he was standing with friends waiting for his bus when he saw some of his classmates running back inside the building.
"We didn't know what was happening until like everybody started rushing in like, 'Oh, the bus is on fire, the bus is on fire!'" said Sherman.
School officials said 10 kids were on bus 444 when it started smoking. Thinking quickly, the bus driver and teachers got all the kids off the bus. Within minutes the bus erupted in flames.
"When it was happening there was like smoke coming up everywhere; we were pretty scared," said Sherman.
No one was hurt and the bus was towed to the Fort Bend ISD bus barn where it will be inspected by the Missouri City fire marshal to find out what caused the fire.
The flames appear to have started at the front of the bus, judging by the heavy damage to the steering wheel and driver's seat.
The bus involved in the fire is a Thomas model bus and even though school officials don't know what started the fire, they said they are inspecting all other similar model buses to make sure there are no other potentially hidden dangers.
"It's good to know they're going to be checking into all the same models because it certainly is something we wouldn't want to see happen again," said Sherman's mother, Errin Sherman.
There is no word yet on how long it will take for the fire marshal to determine what caused this fire.
Fort Bend ISD officials also sent an email to parents of Quail Valley students alerting them to the fire and the precautions being taken.
