Hero bus driver Kia Rousseve recounts rescuing nine kids off a New Orleans school bus before it exploded in flames: 'I put my mother hood on'

Harrowing video captured the moment a hero bus driver saved nine children seconds before their school bus exploded in flames. 

Kia Rousseve, 28, was just about to make her fifth stop when she noticed the vehicle starting to lose power.

'The bus started acting crazy, started jerking, and going real real slow,' the hero told Good Morning America. 

A mother herself, said she credits her maternal instincts for kicking in around 7 am on March 13.

'I put my mother hood on,' said Rousseve. 'I have a child so I thought about them kids like it was my own child.'

When she pulled the bus over, a bystander ran up to the bus to inform Rousseve that flames were coming from underneath. She quickly rushed the kids off the bus and moments later it burst into flames destroying the vehicle. 

New Orleans school bus driver Kia Rousseve saved nine children and herself after the bus she was driving lost power and burst into flames 

After leading the children away, the bus burst into flames and the moment was caught on film

A mother herself, said she credits her maternal instincts for taking action that day. 'I put my mother hood on,' said Rousseve. 'I have a child so I thought about them kids like it was my own child' 

'We could have lost our lives, that's what I've been thinking about,' Rousseve said.

'Every time I look at the picture, it's like wow, my seat was the first thing that caught on fire.'

Rousseve quickly ushered the Kindergarten through 8th-grade students off the bus moments before it spontaneously combusted.

'I just had to stay calm for the kids because there was crying and they were running up the street and I had to get them together.'

After leading the children far away from what could have been a deadly scene, she went back to see that no one else was inside the vehicle. 

Within minutes of getting the children off of the bus, the vehicle was completely engulfed in flames.

A bus driver for three years, Rousseve said she believes a faulty alternator was the cause of the explosion. 

 'Every time I look at the picture, it's like wow, my seat was the first thing that caught on fire,' the hero said

When she pulled the bus over, a bystander ran up to the bus to inform Rousseve that flames were coming from underneath

She was making her fifth stop around 7 am on March 13 when the scary moment started to unfold

Rousseve quickly ushered the Kindergarten through 8th grade students off the bus moments before it spontaneously combusted

A bus driver for three years, Rousseve said she believes a faulty alternator was the cause of the explosion

Rousseve's employer, Community Academies of New Orleans, has praised her for her actions, referring to her bravery as 'courage on wheels'

The bus driver said she is still shaken up from the incident and she is taking time away from the wheel to recover

Rousseve's employer, Community Academies of New Orleans, has praised her for her actions, referring to her bravery as 'courage on wheels.'

'I was just glad I was being a hero to the kids and being a hero to myself, and getting them off the bus real quickly.'

The bus driver told Good Morning America that she is still shaken up from the incident and she is taking time away from the wheel to recover. She has also shared her story with numerous other outlets.

'I feel great about saving other kids lives and saving my life,' she said in an earlier interview.