In Danger

Smith then realized the intensity of the amount of danger that she had dragged herself into. She was right in the middle of flames and it seemed like she was in the mouth of death itself, and there seemed to be no way out. 

Difficult Exit

With each step that she tried to take towards the exit door, the flames grew bigger and scarier for her. But even in that situation Renita did not regret her decision of running back into the bus at all. She had no concern for herself. It was only the children whom she wanted to be safe. 

One Last Time

While the raging fire had covered the bus all over, Renita thought of her two kids for one last time who was alone at home and she knew that there was no one else to take care of them except for her. She saw the magnitude of danger around her and just closed her eyes. 

No Way Out

The situation was so dangerous that even though the neighbors who were watching everything wanted to help, they were unable to. “This fire was going too fast. I had a little extinguisher,” resident Lucy Kilin told the NBC Los Angeles on September 2016. “But it was too late. I couldn’t do anything.”

Struggling

Everyone was just staring at the flames go skywards and engulfing the bus within it. Even though the students were in a safe haven, the person who had saved them, Renita, was struggling inside the bus that was lost behind the smoke. 

A Phone Call

Renita finally somehow managed to come out of the bus only and only for the sake of her children. She was scared and said, “That’s what brought tears and emotions because the ‘what if…?’s And I didn’t know the fire was that bad until I watched the video.” But a phone call was on its way to change everything for Renita.