Broward 6th-graders’ field trip to Sea World ends in flames after bus catches fire, video shows
A bus carrying Broward County students from a field trip to Orlando’s Sea World attraction caught fire as the group traveled home, video shows. A school official told the Miami Herald the children are safe.
“Yes, the bus did catch fire. Due to the bus driver’s quick actions, all students and staff evacuated safely,” Broward County Public Schools spokesman John Sullivan told the Miami Herald in a text early Saturday morning.
The fire happened around 8:30 p.m. Friday, after the bus had pulled over to the side of the road, near the Port St. Lucie/Fort Pierce rest stop on Florida’s Turnpike, the school district’s spokeswoman, Cathleen Brennan, told the Herald in an email Saturday.
Aboard the charter bus: 47 students and four chaperones from Seminole Middle School in Plantation and the driver.
“All students and staff had been safely evacuated from the bus before the fire started,” Brennan said. “We are proud of the quick response to this situation by all the chaperones, including the school resource officer and assistant principal, as well as the charter bus driver.”
‘We ran over like something’
The district could not say what led to the fire and referred questions regarding the cause and condition of the bus to the charter bus company that was hired for this trip, Hollywood-based My South Bus Tours.
My South Bus Tours did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“The chaperones safely escorted the students to the nearby Port St. Lucie/Fort Pierce rest stop and everyone waited inside that facility until a replacement charter bus arrived,” Brennan said.
A video shows children in the foreground, with the bus in the distance burning on the side of the road, as the students made their way to the rest stop. The orange flames from the bus and the oncoming headlights from traffic piercing the night sky can be seen in the video. The students speak one over the other, excitedly with a sense of wonder and speculation — as children tend to do.
“Yo, bro!”
“We ran over like something.”
“A rock!”
“Post to Tik-Tok!”
Parents were first notified that their children’s field trip had hit a snag around 9:50 p.m., about an hour after the fire, according to logs of robocalls and emails sent from the school.
“I apologize for the late message but am reaching out specifically to families that have a student on the Sea World Trip,” the first message read. “At this time, the students and staff are all safe and waiting at the [Port] St. Lucie rest stop for a new bus.”
Three buses were carrying Seminole Middle students and chaperones. While two continued on their way to Broward, the disabled third had its occupants waiting for about an hour and 20 minutes for a replacement bus.
By 11:30 p.m., parents were told the last group of students were on their way home and would arrive after midnight. The school website’s calendar indicated the outing was scheduled to end at 10:30 p.m.
Principal Emily Gonzalez sent a final message at 10 a.m. Saturday praising the chaperones and students for their quick actions.
“I wanted to take a moment to thank our students, staff and parents/guardians for their quick action during this situation,” she said in the message. “I am proud of everyone’s actions that kept all of our Seminole students and staff safe and thank all of our families for their support.”
Brennan did not specify whether Broward County Public Schools might plan future field trips differently concerning transportation after Friday’s incident. She praised Seminole’s leadership, the district, the chaperones and staff, as well as the students for the way they handled the incident.
