A Florida school bus driver is being called a hero after safely getting close to 40 students off of a bus Wednesday before it burst into flames.

It happened in Davenport, Florida. A passerby took video of the scene from a cell phone.

The bus driver said she saw smoke coming from the back of the bus and pull over just in time to call 9-1-1. She got all 37 students off before the bus ignited in flames that shot into the air and created plumes of smoke so bad, it shut down both directions of the local highway for hours.

The bus driver told troopers that she thinks a mechanical failure caused the fire.

A second bus came to take the children to the Discovery Academy and a tow truck arrived to haul away the burnt-out vehicle.

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