Driver, teen get students safely off burning school bus

High school student Caleb Lorensen was sitting at the back of a school bus on the way to class on Friday when the driver told him to help get the other kids off the vehicle.

Lorensen knew how to open the emergency back door from previous drills. Bus driver Mark Jenkins told him to take the kids through the back.

The 15-year-old Grade 10 student helped them out of the bus safely and then saw smoke coming out of the vehicle. The kids stood in a yard in front of a house in the RM of Prince Albert, 12 kilometres west of Prince Albert.

Jenkins told Lorensen to call 911, alerting the Prince Albert Fire Department to the situation at 8:13 a.m. By the time the firefighters arrived, the bus was “fully involved,” the fire department said in a media release.

“The smoke was blowing away from us, but when we got off, I could smell burning plastic,” Lorensen said during an interview over his lunch break at school.

“And it just got bigger and bigger. We heard the airbag pop and the horn got stuck on, and then we could hear the windows shattering. It was a little scary, but we’re safe.”

According to the fire department, a mechanical issue sparked the blaze in the engine compartment. The 16 young people on board, including primary and high school students, were uninjured.

Fire crews extinguished the flames, but the school bus was destroyed.

The fire department credits Jenkins’ quick actions for ensuring everyone got out safely.

The Saskatchewan Rivers Public School Division confirmed the bus belonged to them and that the fire occurred along Highway 302 West.

Tom Michaud, the school division’s superintendent of schools, says Sask. Rivers will do an investigative followup and the results of the investigation will determine what the next steps will be.

“I told my mom about it. She was glad I’m OK and the teachers checked to make sure I’m OK,” Lorensen said. “Everyone is just glad that we’re OK.”

The smoke was blowing away from us, but whenwegot off, I could smell burning plastic. ... It was a little scary, but we’re safe.