CHARLOTTE — A school bus caught fire during the morning rush Thursday in west Charlotte.
It happened around 7:40 a.m. along Tuckaseegee Road at Yahtzee Lane and left the road partially blocked for hours.
Thankfully, the students on board and the driver all made it out safely.
Video from the scene shows the bus engulfed in flames, with smoke billowing from the roof. Firefighters shortly arrived to put out the flames, while police blocked off a stretch of the street.
The smoke was so high, some neighbors said they feared the bus would explode.
“Oh, I’m so grateful they all got out,” one witness said.
The bus was on its way to East Voyager Academy of Charlotte, a charter school just minutes down the road, when it burst into flames.
Channel 9’s Miana Massey spoke to a witness who did not want to be identified. She was one of the first to notice something was wrong and worked to warn the bus driver.
“It was very scary,” she said. “I saw the bus coming, and it was smoking underneath, and it was fire. I was running beside her and I was yelling.”
She says a man stopped and opened the back of the bus, helping the children to get out. She estimates about a dozen students were on board.
Parents were notified of the incident, and many of the children were picked up by another bus and taken to school.
Channel 9 reached out to East Voyager Academy for more information about what may have caused the fire.
This is a developing story. Check back with wsoctv.com for updates.