We always hope when our kids are in trouble, that someone will be there for them, if we can’t be.
But you never let yourself think about the emergency situations on a regular basis. Because it’s too much. But for 37 parents, a school bus fire became their worst nightmare.
However, a pregnant bus driver became their hero.
Imunek Williams, of Milwaukee, Wisc., was working her normal bus route, which had 37 students onboard. Suddenly, the passengers and Williams noticed a bad smell, and smoke started pouring out of the front of the bus.
Instantly, Williams pulled the bus over and began ushering the kids off the school bus.
My mommy instincts kicked in really fast,” Williams, who is eight months pregnant, told WTMJ-TV. “I just feel like I had to stay calm. Like, it was my job to stay calm.”
As the smoke filled the bus, Williams said it was difficult to try and radio for help.
The remains of the school bus that caught on fire. Image from YouTube
“I couldn’t barely get what I was trying to say out because of the smoke was hitting me in the face in my eyes,” she recalled.
Quickly, the heavily-pregnant woman got all of the 37 children, who ranged from kindergartners to highschoolers, safely off to the bus and standing away from the smoke.
And not a minute too soon. “I was the last person off,” Williams said.
Once I get off, I turned around and I just seen flames.”
Police took Williams to a local hospital just to be safe. The department said the cause of the fire was still under investigation.
“It just feels good that I was able to get them off and no one was hurt,” Williams said. “That’s just my biggest concern because if it was my kid on the bus, I would want the bus driver to do the exact same thing.”
It shouldn’t be a surprise to know that Williams was back on her bus route the very next day.
“That’s just my biggest concern because if it was my kid on the bus, I would want the bus driver to do the exact same thing. I actually picked them up (the next morning), and they actually weren’t expecting to see me,” Williams shared. “They were like, ‘Oh, you’re back? You didn’t get burned up?’ I said, ‘No, I’m still here.'”
Imunek Williams talks to a reporter about what she did when her school bus caught on fire. Photo from WTMJ.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Williams is doing fine, other than a bit of smoke inhalation. For her, the main thing that mattered is that she was able to get all the children evacuated.
“Everyone’s OK, so that just makes me happy,” she said.
Watch below to see the heroic bus driver.
