Robert Watson, the school bus driver for Buckhead’s Sarah Smith Elementary School who saved 49 students from a burning bus March 27, was honored once again by the Buckhead Coalition during the quarterly luncheon meeting of the Buckhead Business Association April 17.
Buckhead Coalition President Sam Massell presented Watson with a plaque commemorating his heroism, a $100 Buckhead Life Group restaurant gift card and a check for $500 from the Buckhead Coalition.
Watson is credited with getting the students off of his bus about 30 seconds before it erupted in flames. The fire has been attributed to an electrical problem.
Smelling smoke, Watson stopped the bus in a residential area and ordered the first- through fifth-graders to get out of the bus and the driver and students stood on a residential lawn as the bus burned.
Watson had already been recognized by the Atlanta Public Schools, the Georgia House of Representatives and the North Atlanta Civic Association.
— John Schaffner