BUNCOMBE COUNTY, N.C. — Sometimes all it takes is one moment, one action to become a hero.
That’s the case of a Buncombe County school bus driver, who without a second thought, answered the call to rescue people in his community during Helene.
Bruce Sullivan is as beloved as they come and stepped up at a critical time.
He sees feet, both big and small, climb aboard a bus at Oakland Elementary School one afternoon in mid-December.
Once the children sat in their seats, Sullivan gave them a direct message.
“Guys! I need (you on your) best behavior today, please. Best behavior today,” Sullivan said.
It’s a treat to ride home with one of Buncombe County Schools’ best.
“Well hello there! I miss seeing you, too. Bye!” Sullivan said as he waved at a grandmother picking up her granddaughter at one of the stops.
Sullivan said meeting and getting to know the childrens’ family members makes him feel like they are part of his own.
“I always tell them, like y'all are my kids. You know? Who are they? When y’all are on my bus, y'all are my kids,” Sullivan said.“I always tell them, like y'all are my kids. You know? Who are they? When y’all are on my bus, y'all are my kids,” Sullivan said.
These elementary schoolers he keeps close to his heart. They show love and respect for him.
“I do. I love it,” Sullivan said.
The reasons why are endearing.
“I feel like it helps me be a better dad,” Sullivan said.
At the time of this interview, he was a stepdad who had a baby on the way.
It’s why the bus driver, with multiple years of experience driving for the school system, said having something to live for raced through his mind the morning of September 27, when his boss, Director of Transportation for Buncombe County Schools Jeremy Stowe, called him.
“Then I get a call from Stowe. It's like, ‘hey, you want to go rescue people?’ And I was like, without hesitation, I'm like, ‘yeah,’” Sullivan said.
The morning Stowe called was the morning before Helene hit.
“It was heartwarming to know that when I called a variety of individuals to ask them to drive a bus and to help evacuate some of these folks I never heard the word no,” Stowe said.
Stowe said the BCS bus system transports roughly 10,000 students each school day. Of those 10,000 students, it drives 7,500 miles in the morning and 7,500 miles in the afternoon. Which is why bus drivers played a pivotal role in the post-Helene bus route recreation.
Stowe said in the hours before the storm, the county fire marshal asked for eight buses on standby. Four were to be sent to Black Mountain and four to be driven to the Swannanoa community to evacuate people when the storms hit.
“As a fixture in the community for public schools it’s our opportunity to show up and assist,” Sullivan said.
So they assisted. Sullivan headed to the Swannanoa fire station as the French Broad River flooded faster and faster.
Swannanoa Fire Department Chief Anthony Penland said Sullivan was helpful as soon as he arrived.
“We knew there was going to be a lot more individuals who was going to need to be evacuated,” Penland said.
Penland said right after Sullivan helped move equipment to higher ground, he asked Sullivan if he could haul down old U.S. 70 to pick up some folks from Owen Middle School. The fire chief said the bus driver never hesitated.
“Within seven minutes of getting to the school and convincing them to get on the bus to go to shelter, it went from there to halfway, almost halfway up the (outside of the doors to the) bus,” Sullivan said.
Penland laughed as he sat in his office chair recalling what Sullivan said to get the people on the bus.
“He told the folks that they were trying to get on the bus, that he had a wife and small child at home, and he had something to live for, and they had better hurry up and get on that bus,” Penland said.“He told the folks that they were trying to get on the bus, that he had a wife and small child at home, and he had something to live for, and they had better hurry up and get on that bus,” Penland said.
With no time to waste. During the thick of rising floodwaters, Sullivan pulled out his cell phone to record the mayhem because he said he knew it was an event he may never experience again.
“I don’t like this. I don’t like this at all,” Sullivan said in the cell phone recorded video.
Sullivan bussed folks to safety through dangerously high flood waters and dropped them off at shelters.
Stowe couldn’t be more proud as his boss.
“That was in the eye of the storm, in the middle of the storm on the 27th,” Stowe said.
Sullivan kept his pregnant wife and child in the front of his mind. Sullivan said when classes resumed a month later in October after being paused for a month in late September because of Helene, it made the return to being behind the wheel that much sweeter.
“That day of going back and getting to see all the faces that you haven't seen in a over a month, it was great. It's awesome. I’ve heard the term 'hero.' The way I look at it is, it’s not (a) hero to me. It’s doing what (a) right-minded, good human being should do,” Sullivan said.
Criteria the bus driver fits to a tee.
Sullivan shared a photo of his newborn, Kai. She was born to Sullivan and his wife Brittany in January. Sullivan said the baby is in good health and credits her with motivating him to drive so many to safety.
