WITHAMSVILLE, Ohio -- Parents of students involved in a bus fire Wednesday are thankful that their children are safe.
Students and teachers from Merwin and Willowville elementary schools were returning from a trip to the NASA Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama, when their bus caught fire.
Hazel Ellison was one of those emotional parents worried about her daughter Skyla Marlow, a fifth grader on the bus.
"I just can't help it. I'm emotional and I know she's safe," Ellison said. "It's just the thought of it. I mean, when she was out there and I couldn't get a hold of her."
The bus was traveling on I-65 just north of Bowling Green, Kentucky, when a tire popped.
"Where I was sitting, the wheel there popped, the very first one, and then it popped on the other side," Marlow said. "We were on the wrong side of the road by then, so we had to go to the other side."
The bus caught fire just minutes after the students evacuated, according to Marlow. While they waited for another bus to pick them up, they were fed by volunteers at Munfordville Fire Department.
Ellison broke down in tears when Marlow and her classmates arrived back in the Tri-State around midnight.
"That's all I wanted to see, that she is okay and to hold my baby," Ellison said.
Parents are still waiting to hear if their student's belongings, which were left behind in the evacuation, will be replaced.
