Dorian Pace has been hailed as a hero for saving 15 children from a burning school bus. On the morning of February 27, Pace, a school bus driver for the Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District, heard a loud boom coming from underneath the bus while he was transporting students to Monticello Middle School.
He told Good Morning America, “I actually felt like the bus was about to blow up.”
“What was going through my mind was, ‘I can’t lose any kids.’ So I quickly got everybody off the bus. We all exited through the regular front door because the fire was coming from the right rear.”
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Pace revealed that after 11 years of driving, he had never encountered an incident like that one. He added that the bus evacuation exercises he undertakes a couple of times a year were helpful.
When he pulled the bus over, he reported seeing smoke coming from the right rear tire and hearing another explosion. As soon as he noticed flames starting, he entered what he called “bus evacuation mode.”
Pace and the students said that before the fire swiftly spread throughout the bus, some of them were not aware of how risky it was.
Britt Mosby, a seventh grader, told News5Cleveland, “We were all scared. We called our parents. It was like a couple of booms. Then, when we got somewhere, I forgot exactly where it was, the bus driver said, ‘Everybody get off the bus.'”
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Pace and all of the other students on the bus escaped unscathed.
Davida Russell, vice president of the Cleveland Heights City Council, said, “Thank you so much for making all bus drivers in this state proud.”
Although the source of the fire is still being investigated, authorities said they believe it started somewhere below the wheel well.
The bus passed its yearly inspection two weeks before the incident, according to the school district. However, out of caution, they now intend to re-inspect the district’s entire fleet of buses.
Meanwhile, the veteran driver has resumed driving, returning to work on Friday following the incident.
Pace, who said he prays every day before driving, stated, “God just answered my prayers.”
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