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Nov. 21-- About 20 Penn Elementary School students escaped unharmed after their school bus caught fire early Monday.
The driver said she pulled over and stood between the students and the flames after she noticed the fire in the engine while driving in the 2600 block of Mohawk Boulevard about 7:15 a.m.
"I saw the flames coming from the hood," Yolanda Palmer said. "I just stood in front of the fire while the kids went behind my legs."
The Tulsa Public Schools bus driver said she led the students out the front door and tried to put out the fire with the on-board fire extinguisher, but it grew too quickly.
The bus was completely engulfed when firefighters arrived, authorities said.
The damaged appeared to be concentrated in the front end, and flames had scorched areas above most of the side windows. The bus was a complete loss.
"I need water for my eyes. It scared the mist out of me," Palmer said. "It wasn't driving like that on Friday."
