Off duty school bus driver saw students' house engulfed in flames—he risked his life to save 'his kids' and their pets
When kids board the school bus, they become the bus driver's responsibility until they reach school. Todd Morris, a 54-year-old bus driver from Ohio, always had a great bond with the students he drove to the school. So much so, that he didn't even think twice before rushing to rescue some of those kids when flames erupted at their residence on January 22, 2025, per TODAY. “They’re my kids,” Morris told the news outlet. “I’d do anything for my kids.” That morning, Morris was driving by in his vehicle when he saw flames shooting up from the second-floor window of a house in the Jackson Township area.
Morris recognized that the house belonged to Matt and Jordan Fisher. Two out of their four children rode the bus Morris drove to school. “My heart just dropped. All I could think was, 'My kids. My kids are inside,'” Morris recalled. It was Wednesday but the schools were closed that day due to freezing temperatures. Morris promptly dialed 911 and then dashed towards the burning residence. Despite knocking on the door, no one answered. Morris, being a former police officer, started kicking the entrance with his foot.
“There was so much smoke I could barely see in front of me. It took me a second to orient myself and figure out which way I needed to go,” Morris mentioned. Once inside, he tried to make his way upstairs where the ceilings were about to collapse. Morris started searching for people once again, even though the entire floor was engulfed in smoke. As he made his way back downstairs, he found the two dogs of the Fisher family, Cash and Lady. “They were staring at me like deer in headlights. They looked so scared,” Morris said. Cash, the German Shepherd, couldn't walk so Morris had to pick up the dog and put both of them in his car.
Then, Morris entered the residence for the second time. “I kept hearing these noises but I couldn’t differentiate what they were or where they were coming from,” he said. “I needed to make sure that no one was inside.” The firefighters soon responded to Morris' call and got the flames under control within 90 minutes, according to a local newspaper Canton Repository. Fortunately, both Matt and Jordan were at work and their kids, Brooklyn, Riley, Arizona and Dakota were spending the night with their grandparents. "Todd Morris is a hero," Matt told TODAY. "He risked his life to go in there and save my family. He didn't think twice."
Matt revealed how he became emotional when he saw the bus driver after the fire and got to know what he had done in the absence of the Fisher family. "I gave him a big hug and thanked him for what he did. Our dogs mean everything to us. We've had them since they were pups," Matt admitted. "I was crying. I was in the right place at the right time." Jackson Township Fire Chief Timothy Berczik shared that the cause of the fire breakout was under investigation.
“Most people would just call 911 and keep driving,” Berczik quipped. “But Todd being a retired police officer knew that when it’s cold and windy, every second counts. He met us when we got there and was able to give us the lay of the land." Even though there was no loss of life, the Fisher family’s home was destroyed completely. The family later set up a GoFundMe to raise funds for rebuilding their house. "We're devastated," Fisher concluded. "But if Todd hadn't driven by in that moment, we would have lost everything."