There was some frightening moments on a Hamilton County school bus, Thursday morning in East Ridge.

According to East Ridge Fire Chief Mike Williams, firefighters and police were dispatched to the intersection of St. Thomas Street and Ringgold Road at 8:13 a.m. on a reported school bus fire.

According to a post from Chief Williams on the City of East Ridge Fire and Rescue Facebook page, help was there almost immediately as Station 2 is less than 500 feet from where the incident was reported.

Chief Williams said in the post that once firefighters arrived all children had been evacuated by the bus driver.

The driver reported that she had seen heavy smoke coming from the rear wheel area. Crews investigated and believe that the cause was from hot brakes.

“I would like to personally recognize the driver of this school bus, she evacuated 53 children and placed them in an orderly fashion away from the bus,” Chief Williams said in the post. “She showed compassion for each of these children during the event.

“If this was the bus driver of your children this morning, you should feel confident that your children were in good hands. All children were accounted for and another bus transported the children to there school location.”