Hero bus driver saves children moments before school bus catches fire

NEW ORLEANS, La. -- A New Orleans school bus driver is being praised for evacuating the children on her bus moments before it went up in flames.

Kia Rousseve said she knew something wasn't right when the bus started losing power.

Moments after she pulled over, a bystander ran up to let her know that flames were coming from underneath the vehicle.

Rousseve jumped into action, gathering the group of kindergarten through eighth-grade students and leading them off of the bus.

Video shows, within moments, the front of the bus was completely engulfed in fire.

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"We could have lost our lives. That's what I've been thinking a lot. Like, it's like every time I look at the pictures and like, wow, my seat was the first thing, you know, that caught on fire," Rousseve said.

Rousseve credits a "mother's instinct" for her quick reaction.

"I put my motherhood on. I have a child. So, I thought about them kids like it was my own child," she said.

Rousseve's actions saved her own life, and the lives of the nine children on her bus.

"I was just glad that I was being a hero to the kids and being a hero to myself by getting them off the bus," she said.