41-year-old Kevin McKay sent nearly two dozen children in a safe place when the flame of one of the most deadly and destructive fire in California history was everywhere.
McKay only a few months he worked as a school bus driver at Ponderosa Elementary School in Paradise (Northern California) before November 8, broke Camp Fire, burning about an acre (4046 sq m) per second.
At that time, how many children have taken their family members, about two dozen students found themselves in a quandary when the flame approached the school. So McKay and two teachers, a 29-year-old Abby Davis and 50-year-old Mary Ludwig, all planted in the bus and moved on.
«It was very scary. It was like Armageddon,» said in an interview with CNN Ludwig, a teacher of second graders.
«It’s just like what we will go to Mordor,» said McKay, referring to the movie «the Lord of the rings.»
Throughout the road they were traveling surrounded by fire and dense smoke, but soon their bus stuck in a traffic jam of cars that also tried to leave Paradise.
‘Bus driver from heaven’ rescued nearly two dozen young children from California wildfire https://t.co/KaUaW0OA06 pic.twitter.com/m0HvZEdrNX
— Cal Washington (@cal_washington) November 19, 2018
According to teachers, some children smoke inhalation, he started to doze off. Then the adults had to improvise. McKay took off his shirt, tore it into strips and doused with water. Then he and the teacher handed out pieces of fabric to the disciples that they breathed through them.
«It was crazy, the fire was on all sides, everywhere you look,» recalls the «hell» trip 10-year-old Charlotte Mertz, who is studying in 4th grade.
Along the way, they also picked up a kindergarten teacher from a nearby primary school, whose car broke down.
McKay told CNN: «That’s when we realized — though it is a stupid statement, but Heaven (Paradise city’s name, which translates as Paradise) lost.»
A few hours later all the children returned to their parents. According to the teachers, who were in the bus, McKay has shown himself as a true hero.
«We had a driver from the heavens,» said Ludwig CNN.
Fires in California: 71 victim, more than a thousand — have gone missing
At the moment there are about 71 dead, but in reality, victims may be much higher. California authorities have created a list where the names of more than 1 million people missing.
