Northwest bus driver says she just wanted her kids to be safe

Heather Bowen doesn’t consider herself a hero after helping students escape from a bus fire Wednesday afternoon on Interstate 35W.

For Bowen, adrenaline numbed her as she “just did what I know to do” and got herself and the 20 students to safety, minutes before the bus was engulfed in flames.

“I was thanking God that all the students were safe,” she said.

Bowen, a bus driver for three years, and Northwest school district officials addressed the media Thursday, a day after the bus caught fire as Bowen was driving south on I-35W near the Keller-Hicks Road exit. Bowen said she heard a loud noise and immediately began talking to dispatchers about what to do.

“I was not in a good position to pull over, so I continued on the side of the road, as close to the edge of the road as I possibly could, until I could get to the exit,” Bowen said.

After hearing the noise — students heard the pop as well — Bowen said she “couldn’t get the bus to exceed 45 mph.”

The students — and drivers passing by the bus — alerted Bowen that smoke, then flames, were coming from the rear of the bus.

“At that point, I set the emergency brake, turned the engine off and exited the students off the front of the bus.”

Bowen said she and the Northwest High School students could see flames on the back of the bus after they got off, and it quickly moved toward the front as they walked away.

She estimated the time from the loud noise to the exit from the bus was two to three minutes.

No one was injured, and all the students were at school Thursday, according to the school district. Bowen drove her route Thursday morning.

Bowen praised the students on board, who were calm and cooperative, she said. She shied away from a “hero” label, describing her adrenaline-fueled reaction as second-nature.

“I don’t know that I’m a hero, because I care about my students and I want them to be safe,” she said.

The immediate scare Wednesday afternoon behind them, the school district is awaiting the Fort Worth Fire Department’s investigation report, expected in five to seven business days, to learn what caused the fire.

Northwest contracts with Durham School Services for bus service. Outsourced Operations Manager Dana Chandler said the bus received normal maintenance on Nov. 16 and new tires a week later.

This story was originally published December 4, 2014 at 5:52 PM with the headline "Northwest bus driver says she just wanted her kids to be safe."