"September 4 started as a typical workday for Carlos Perea and Angel Zarco, until Perea noticed smoke coming from a Madera Unified school bus. Without a second thought, the pair jumped into action. "We were just making sure the kids were far away enough so that they wouldn't get hurt," Zarco said. They alerted the driver and began evacuating the students inside, working through thick plumes of smoke to get to the students in the back row."
"Moments later, the bus was quickly covered in roaring flames. "The bus caught fire right away, probably within like two minutes, three minutes. It all happened right away," Zarco added. The two men met at the intersection to fix a broken tractor, but Perea is now saying it was no coincidence. "God put you in that place for a reason. It was to help out the kids, help out the community right there," Perea said."
On September 4 in Madera, Carlos Perea and Angel Zarco noticed smoke coming from a Madera Unified school bus and immediately began evacuating about 20 students. They alerted the driver, worked through thick smoke to reach children in the back rows, and moved the students to safety before the vehicle became engulfed in flames within minutes. The charred bus was later reduced to ashy grey paint. The Madera County Board of Supervisors and others honored the men for their actions. CAL FIRE Division Chief Larry Pendarvis emphasized that buses can be replaced but humans cannot. Perea's daughter attended the proclamation, and the recognition meant everything to him.
Read at ABC7 Los Angeles
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