Students Treated After Sapulpa School Bus Fills With Smoke

Smoke inside a Sapulpa school bus made at least three middle school students sick before the bus driver pulled over and got the children off.

Now, the question being asked by many is, why didn't the driver stop as soon as the bus started smoking.

Viewer video sent to News On 6 shows the bus and a large trail of smoke following it Friday afternoon.

We’re told it took the bus driver several minutes to pull over and let the 25 students off.

Sapulpa Public Schools mechanic, Kraig Gilbert said, "They were just a couple of blocks from the service center. They were going to bring it in, and, obviously, on the way back some kids said they were exposed to smoke."

The driver stopped near Cedar and McKinley.

Student Jordan Reeves said, "He just kept going while the smoke was trailing behind him."

"Yeah, he was just driving and there was smoke popping out. And I seen people in the windows telling him to stop. They were tapping him. He just kept driving," said student Arthur Newman.

Three middle school students suffered smoke inhalation; one had a seizure.

Sergeant Stephen Zamudio with the Sapulpa Police Department said, "They were just trying to give them oxygen, open up their airways."

The mechanic said engine trouble caused the smoke. He said the bus is five years old and serviced regularly.

"The driver of this bus, he's a really good old guy. He's been driving for a lot of years, and I just can't see him putting kids in danger needlessly," Gilbert said.

The district superintendent said he is looking into whether the driver hesitated to stop.