make some light comments about having pancakes and a black bear surviving at the black bear diner. >> it was great. i mean after all the tenseness we needed a joke to loosen everything up. >> reporter: then back between walls of fire. >> when we turned the corner, there we were, back again. and it was awful. um, i just felt like this was never going to end. >> just being gridlock trapped in the road. there was nowhere for us to go. the traffic wasn't moving. and then our last stretch, too, i think that was the -- that was the moment i thought that we might not make it out. >> reporter: abby's home burned. so did charlotte's and kevin's. mary's still stands. homes were lost. but in the end, everyone on the bus survived. >> safety is such a important part of a bus driver's role, and, um, you know, i must have