PART 2 By Halsey King halsey@halseyking.com A bus fire, no matter its size or origin, has a way of stopping people in their tracks. Crowds gather, phones come out, and speculation begins long before the flames are out. In Part 1, we explored the immediate issues that surface the moment a fire breaks out. In this installment, we move deeper into the fire event itself — the behavior of flames, smoke, fuel loads, and the tools meant to stop a small fire from becoming a catastrophic one. Flame Characteristics Flame size is dictated by what’s burning, how much of it is available, and what chemicals or compounds are embedded in the material. A simple wood log burns predictably; a wood panel treated with lacquers or stains behaves very differently. A bus is a complex assembly of metals, plastics, fabrics, foams, fluids, and composites. As a result, a bus fire often produces multiple flame signatures, different sizes, shapes, and colors – sometimes simultaneously. Flame Color Flame color is one of the more fascinating aspects of fire behavior. Interior materials such as upholstery can produce colors distinct from exterior components like paint, fiberglass, or metal. While flame color and size may contribute to an investigator’s developing hypothesis, they are rarely reliable indicators on their own. They are puzzle pieces — not conclusions. Smoke Signatures Smoke tells its own story. In everyday fleet operations, drivers often report smoke colors from exhaust systems: • Grey smoke: often oil burning or a mix of oil and water vapor • Heavy black smoke: typically over-fueling in a diesel engine • White smoke that dissipates quickly: usually steam from the cooling system During a bus fire, smoke color and density become part of the broader investigative picture. Like flame behavior, smoke is informative but not definitive. Fuel Load Fuel load refers to the total amount of combustible material available. A basket of dry leaves may leave only a faint carbon shadow; a bus full of seats, plastics, and fluids presents a dramatically different scenario. Under the hood, several common contributors appear again and again: • Oily engine surfaces ignited by leaking valve cover gaskets and poor preventive maintenance • Frozen idler pulleys that overheat and ignite fan belts • Stacked fluids — power steering fluid, washer fluid containing methanol, and brake fluid often clustered on the left side of van engine compartments, creating a concentrated fuel load Fire Extinguishers With proper training — and training is the key, a handheld fire extinguisher can stop a small fire before it grows. Federal and state regulations require buses to carry extinguishers in accessible locations, and some states mandate two. Yet investigators sometimes find extinguishers still mounted in place, burned along with the bus. On rare occasions, an extinguisher is discovered empty on a bus still in service. Automatic fire suppression systems present their own challenges. They require consistent inspection and maintenance by well trained technicians, and they provide drivers with a certain level of confidence. Heavy Tire Smoke Bus tires, especially dual rear tires pose a significant hazard. Each large tire contains roughly 7–8 gallons of oil embedded within the rubber. When ignited, the result is not just burning rubber but burning oil, producing thick black smoke plumes filled with heavy particulates. These plumes can rise as high as a 12-story building. While dramatic smoke draws crowds, it is extremely dangerous. Behind the spectacle are toxic chemicals, intense heat, and airborne particulates that should be avoided at all costs. Results of a massive tire fire. Epilogue I hope this installment sheds light on the questions you’ve asked over the years about what truly happens during a bus fire event. In my next column, we’ll explore the many strategies and technologies designed to stop a bus fire before it starts. As for me, I’m off to investigate some of the 360-plus bus fires government reports say will occur this year — each one a new story waiting to be told. See Halsey King speak at the NAPT ACTS 2026 Conference & Trade Show on October 3, 2026, at 1:00 pm.

  Part of NAPT’s Driven Together Campaign Every school day begins with a simple act of trust. Parents watch as their children walk toward a bus stop, board a yellow school bus, and disappear from view on their way to school. In that moment, families place tremendous confidence in the transportation professionals responsible for safely carrying their children to and from school. That trust is not built overnight. It is earned through consistent communication, visible safety practices, strong relationships, and a shared commitment among parents, schools, drivers, transportation departments, and the broader community. For pupil transportation professionals, trust and safety are inseparable. While the yellow school bus remains the safest form of transportation for students, the moments surrounding loading and unloading continue to present the greatest risks. As part of NAPT’s Driven Together campaign, transportation leaders and safety advocates are emphasizing the importance of collaboration to improve bus stop behavior, reduce roadway dangers, and strengthen parent confidence. Safety Begins Before the Bus Arrives The most dangerous moments in student transportation often occur outside the bus itself. Students approaching the bus, waiting at bus stops, crossing roadways, or exiting the vehicle encounter risks that require constant attention from everyone involved in the transportation process. According to Laura Saldivar-Hill, senior program manager at the National Safety Council, many of the most effective safety practices begin at home. “Safety starts at home,” she said. “Parents can serve as a role model and help their children know how to safely handle those situations.” Saldivar-Hill encourages families to reinforce simple but essential safety habits before students ever reach the bus stop. These include arriving early, standing a safe distance from the roadway, staying alert, avoiding distractions, and understanding how to safely approach and cross near a school bus. She notes that many parents underestimate the value of repetition. “Every moment can be a teachable moment,” she said, emphasizing that safety conversations should occur throughout the year rather than only during the first days of school. Transportation departments can support these efforts through orientation programs, safety demonstrations, bus evacuation drills, and seasonal reminders that reinforce proper student behavior at bus stops. Communication Creates Confidence While safety procedures are critical, families cannot support what they do not understand. Transportation leaders increasingly recognize that communication is one of the strongest tools available for building trust with parents. Marc Medina, NAPT Region 1 Director and president of the New York Association for Pupil Transportation, believes confidence develops through several interconnected factors. “Parent confidence is built through communication, consistency, trust, and visibility,” Medina said. “The trust is the last piece after the communication and the consistency.” Parents want reassurance that their children are safe. They want to know who is responsible for their students, how transportation decisions are made, and what procedures are in place to protect them. “When parents see that partnership, confidence grows,” Medina explained, referring to the collaboration between schools and transportation departments. For transportation departments, that means communicating proactively rather than reactively. Many districts have expanded beyond traditional paper notices and phone calls. Today’s transportation operations increasingly rely on digital communication tools that allow families to receive route information, service updates, safety reminders, and emergency notifications in real time. These tools help families remain informed while creating greater transparency around transportation operations. The result is a more engaged partnership between schools and families. “Parents are more confident, kids are more safe when everyone feels well-informed,” Medina said. The Power of Consistent Messaging Consistency is one of the most overlooked aspects of transportation safety. Students receive information from multiple sources throughout the school day. When messages from parents, schools, and drivers align, students are more likely to understand and follow expectations. “The safest bus stop is one where students know exactly what’s expected before the bus even gets there,” Medina said. He points to the importance of routines and predictable expectations. “Students thrive on routine,” Medina explained. “Same stop location, same stop time, same expectations, and the same safety messages from parents, drivers, and the schools.” This consistency becomes especially important when addressing common risks such as distracted walking, unsafe crossing behavior, horseplay at bus stops, and cellphone use. Transportation departments can strengthen consistency by providing parents with clear safety guidelines, conducting annual orientation sessions, sharing instructional videos, and incorporating safety reminders throughout the year. Rather than limiting communication to the beginning of the school year, successful departments create ongoing campaigns that reinforce expectations month after month. Drivers as Safety Ambassadors While technology and communication systems play important roles, transportation professionals agree that drivers remain among the most influential safety resources available. Dawnett Wright, NAPT Region 5 Director and transportation director for Peninsula School District in Washington, believes the relationships drivers develop with students are among the strongest contributors to safety. “I think most important is the relationships that the drivers themselves create with the students on their buses,” Wright said. “The more they have those relationships, the more those students are going to listen to the bus driver and the safer they’re going to be at the bus stop.” Bus drivers often serve as the first and last school representatives students encounter each day. Through daily interactions, they establish trust, reinforce expectations, and identify potential concerns before they escalate. Medina agrees that drivers play a unique role in transportation safety. “They’re more than just operators,” he said. “Drivers build relationships with students, reinforce safe behavior daily, serve as that extra set of eyes for potential safety concerns, and communicate issues before they become problems.” These relationships create opportunities for positive behavior reinforcement and safety education that extend beyond formal training sessions. When students trust their drivers, they are more likely to follow directions, report concerns, and adopt safer behaviors. Community Outreach Beyond the Bus Stop Building trust requires engagement beyond the transportation department. Community outreach efforts provide opportunities to educate families, students, and motorists about transportation safety while strengthening relationships among stakeholders. Saldivar-Hill believes school districts should regularly communicate safety expectations and available resources to Read More >

  Presented by Q’STRAINT For Hamilton Southeastern Schools, the question was never whether they were meeting the standard. It was whether meeting the standard was enough for their students with special needs. Zach McKinney has roughly 320 buses, 21,000 students, and a perspective most transportation directors share but rarely say out loud: the school bus is already the safest mode of transportation to and from school. But is that also the case for special needs students? “That’s hands down fact,” says McKinney, Director of Transportation for Hamilton Southeastern Schools in Fishers, Indiana. “But how can we continue to move such a safe mode of transportation to be an even safer environment for our [special needs] students down the road?” That question led him to pilot the Q’STRAINT ONE, an all-in-one wheelchair securement station designed to simplify and strengthen the securement process on accessible buses. But the story of how Hamilton Southeastern brought it into service is less about the product and more about what a high-standard district looks like when it refuses to settle. The Process Matters as Much as the Product McKinney didn’t just order a new system and install it. He went to Indiana’s school safety committee, a panel drawn from the medical profession, law enforcement, and transportation, to request a formal pilot program. That process, he says, is exactly what it should be. “There’s a collective audience in that room with a wide array of experience and knowledge,” he explains. “I’m not to say I’m always going to bring the best idea. But you bring it, and they make that informed decision.” Once approved, Hamilton Southeastern trial tested the Q’ONE on the road without students before any rider boarded. They evaluated the system’s integrity, gathered feedback from drivers and attendants, and pushed refinements back to Q’STRAINT, including suggestions around driver notification. “It’s one thing for engineers to sit at a table and draw this up,” McKinney says. “It’s another thing for the end user to put it into practice with students on a day-in, day-out basis. That continual progression, and the openness from the vendor to have those conversations, that’s what moves things forward.” What Drivers Actually Experience Tonya, a driver with 31 years in student transportation, has watched securement evolve through every iteration. Her take on Q’ONE is simple: “Everything has gotten a lot better, and with Q’STRAINT ONE, it’s even easier.” Where other systems require manual tensioning and anchoring retractors to the floor, leaving the potential for operator error and creating tripping hazards, the Q’ONE keeps everything flush and self-contained. The need to first anchor securements to floor is eliminated. Drivers press a single button, and the system tightens and locks automatically. A visual indicator confirms securement is complete. The same button releases the securements at the end of the trip. “I don’t have to worry about trying to crank it tight and hope I actually got it as tight as I could,” Tonya says. Removing the step of anchoring each securement to the vehicle floor “It makes the drive easier, faster for our routes, and I feel very safe with it on my bus.” The reduced cognitive load for drivers by simplifying the securement process is not a small thing. On busy routes with multiple wheelchair passengers, wondering whether every securement was done correctly is a real burden. Systems that eliminate that doubt through design, change the operational experience in ways that matter. The Rider’s Perspective Madison is 20 years old, uses a power wheelchair, and has ridden school buses most of her life. She talks about the bus the way many peers talk about their commute: it’s social, it’s routine, and it’s hers. “I love being on this bus,” she says. “I get to talk to my friends, interact with people. I don’t feel left alone. I feel like I’m with everyone.” What she returns to most is freedom, the sense that her chair, her independence, and her space on the bus are genuinely hers. Her father, Kevin, puts it plainly: “She’s just happy to get locked in and get gone. I’m very thankful for Q’STRAINT because they’ve impacted my life and her life in ways I can’t even express in words.” Are We Doing All We Can, Or Just Enough? McKinney frames the broader challenge with the clarity of someone managing a large, high-performing operation: compliance is the floor, not the ceiling. “I tell my staff every year: I’m a dad in this community,” he says. “So if I’m not going out to find innovative ways to continue to improve our practice, then what am I doing?” For directors navigating budget pressure, staffing challenges, and new technology, his example offers a clear template: engage your state’s approval processes, pilot rigorously, include end users in the feedback loop, and evaluate not just whether something is safe, but whether it’s safer than what came before. That mindset, more than any single product, is what moves the needle for students like Madison, riders who depend on us to ask harder questions than the standard requires. A contributed article by Q’STRAINT and Hamilton Southeastern Schools, Fishers, IN.

  Presented by Transfinder Done effectively, route optimization can reduce student ride times, improve safety, control operating costs and help transportation teams make better use of their people and equipment. Done effectively, route optimization can reduce student ride times, improve safety, control operating costs and help transportation teams make better use of their people and equipment. At Norman Public Schools in Oklahoma, route optimization has become an ongoing process; one supported by Transfinder’s award-winning technology and a willingness to continually reevaluate how the district transports its students. Norman Public Schools serves approximately 15,000 students, with about 8,000 riding district transportation each day. The department operates 106 buses and ran 73 daily routes during the previous school year, with plans to add at least three more. For Alicia Graham, special needs and McKinney-Vento router for Norman Public Schools, the case for optimization can be summed up simply: “Efficiency.” “Our big thing is efficiency and safety of the students,” she said. That philosophy extends across both general education and special needs transportation. Graham said she looks for opportunities to place students on general education routes when appropriate or combine multiple schools on a single route when doing so creates a more efficient trip. A central goal is keeping student ride times to 60 minutes or less. “Optimization is a big factor when, even on our gen ed routes, they use the optimization tools in Routefinder PLUS to get that done to ensure that we’re staying within that 60-minute guideline,” Graham said. James Graham, transportation operations manager for Norman Public Schools, said reducing ride times can have benefits throughout the operation. Less time on the road can mean fewer opportunities for student behavior issues and other incidents, while efficient routing can also reduce fuel consumption, vehicle wear and employee overtime. “Efficiency and the safety of the students is number one,” he said. “But it does a lot of things for us, not just that one thing.” The district’s approach has evolved significantly over time. Approximately two years ago, according to Alicia Graham, the transportation team essentially started over. “We wanted a clean slate on all of our routing, because the optimization was not there,” she said. “We wiped it out completely and started with a blank slate.” The problems were visible in the routes themselves. James Graham recalled seeing multiple buses serving the same neighborhoods and traveling to the same schools, sometimes crossing paths unnecessarily. In some cases, buses would pass groups of students only for another bus traveling behind them to make the pickup. Special needs transportation presented another challenge. Graham recalled buses serving the same school but traveling to opposite sides of town before effectively crisscrossing one another. “It looked like someone took a bowl of spaghetti and threw it on a map, and that’s what our routes looked like,” he said. James Graham initially conducted a pilot program involving special needs transportation at one high school. The results demonstrated the potential of a more deliberate approach to routing. Previously, he said, some students had been riding for an hour and 45 minutes, and occasionally as long as two hours. The pilot helped reduce those ride times and contributed to the district’s eventual goal of keeping students aboard buses for no more than 60 minutes. When Alicia Graham later moved from driving into routing, she continued the process, ultimately helping re-optimize the district’s routes. Technology has supported that evolution. Norman Public Schools uses Transfinder’s Routefinder PLUS for routing and optimization, while other Transfinder solutions have become integrated into the broader transportation operation. Drivers use tablets with Wayfinder rather than paper routes, while Stopfinder provides parents with bus location information and notifications. The district also uses Formfinder, Transfinder’s easy-to-use digital form-creation solution, and actively uses Servicefinder for its maintenance operations after receiving training. The routing improvements are not viewed as a one-time project. Each year, the department looks for additional opportunities to refine its routes. “Each time we come into a new school year, we optimize even better,” Alicia Graham said. “If it’s shaving off a couple stops or changing where the stop’s actually at.” The district has also used Transfinder to address school boundary issues that previously contributed to routing complications. Alicia Graham said correcting those boundaries helped the transportation department ensure students were assigned to the proper schools and reduce unnecessary criss crossing. When considering new technology, James Graham said the district evaluates the advantages and disadvantages as well as the potential return on investment. The question is not simply whether a new tool offers additional capabilities, but whether its long-term value justifies the investment. For Norman Public Schools, route optimization follows a similar principle. The goal is continual improvement: examining routes, identifying inefficiencies and using available technology to make transportation safer and more effective. To learn more about how Norman Public School’s transportation transformation can happen at your district too, email solutions@transfinder.com or call 800-373-3609.