School bus burst into flames and was charred beyond recovery — it was one observation by a first grader that saved all her classmates
A quick action followed by observing any anomaly can be life-saving in many situations. A girl in first grade managed to save lives on her school bus, too, after she noticed flames erupting on the vehicle. The girl, Penelope Winters, noticed the fire and quickly informed the bus driver about what was happening. Who, in turn, was able to get all the students out of the vehicle safely before it went up in flames and burned completely, per ABC affiliate WKRN.
"I saved everyone because I told the bus driver what was happening," Penelope, a student at Charlotte Elementary School, remarked. "I was the first one to get off the bus because I was scared it was going to blow up," Asher Winters, another student, recounted. Meghan Griggs, a parent, was thankful that the bus driver worked to get all the students to safety before anything happened. She was able to reach the site of the incident because her son remembered her phone number and informed her about what had happened immediately. "My son remembered my phone number. He knew how to call me. I didn't answer the first time and he kept calling me." Meghan was close by and arrived there in minutes.
"Luckily, I am down the road, so it didn't take me long to get there. My son handled it very well. He was calm, so I didn't worry as much," Meghan added. The cause behind the fire was not known yet. The incident happened on December 3, 2025, around 4:15 PM. No one was injured because of the fire, but the bus could not be saved, per Rob Fisher, EMA Director of Dickson County. The Dickson County Sheriff's Office was investigating the cause of the fire that happened when the bus was on Highway 49 East, per NBC affiliate WSMV. The bus driver was able to stop at Ridge Market and get all the children out at the right time.
Believe Harpeth Ridge Volunteer Fire Department reached the location soon after the incident was reported and put out the fire. The fire happened on Bus no. 5 from Dickson County, per Fox 17 WZTV Nashville. The students were taken home safely after getting off the bus. According to Track School Bus, most fire incidents on a bus happen because of friction between loose wires and engine parts, leaking inflammable fluids, overloaded circuit boards and more. Having fire extinguishers on board and teaching children to remain calm and evacuate in a proper manner can be useful. Knowing the emergency exits and the use of emergency equipment can help as well.
Such quick observations can be helpful in many situations. In another story, a mom who was picking her daughter from the bus stop made one such observation and saved the lives of 22 kids and the driver on board the bus, per CBS News. The woman, Kari Thorp, saw flames under the bus and screamed to alert the driver about the same. Thorp's daughter had gotten off the bus when she noticed the fire. Thankfully, the driver was able to get everyone out in time. "It was crazy. I'm just thankful that he was very calm. Kids were crying. Kids were scared and freaking out. It was quite emotional and kind of frantic," Thorp expressed.