A father didn’t think twice about getting on a bus that caught fire with 2 of his 4 children inside after the vehicle ignited due to a propane gas explosion.
Kyle Copeland, 33, a former US Air Force intelligence officer, has released pictures of the harrowing aftermath of the December 26 explosion that left him and his two children, Krew, 4, and Pepper, 12, with terrible
While all three escaped with their lives thanks to Copeland’s swift response, which he described as ‘a stare straight into hell’, they are still recovering from the explosion at a Las Vegas hospital’s burn patient unit. .
The family is now using their traumatic experience to raise awareness of the use of propane in mobile homes.
“Watching my children suffer physically is the hardest thing that has ever happened to me… Deep heartache, but we choose to fully embrace that judgment and take responsibility for our life experience,” Kyle said.
Copeland and his wife, Whitney, 33, started living inside the bus-turned-motor home with their four children last August. Four months later, there was a tragic accident that left them homeless.
The couple were securing a trailer outside when their third child, Emree, 6, got off the bus and said the propane heater was making noise.
It was at that moment that the bus caught fire and moments later the explosion occurred.
The Copeland family bus exploded in a ball of fire with two of their four children inside — and another on the side of the vehicle. Flames could be seen three miles from the blast site in the small town of Veyo, Utah.
Kade, 10, managed to jump out of the window to escape the danger. Pepper, the eldest sister, suffered burns over 52% of her body. She has had 32 surgeries so far.
Krew is still recovering from burns to his hands, arms and face in the temporary home the family is staying in near the specialized burn unit at the University Medical Center in Las Vegas.
The two middle children escaped serious physical injury and have gone to stay with the family while the rest of the family recovers in hospital.
Copeland was intubated and sedated for four days before he was able to speak with his wife.
“Kyle is healing. His hands and neck have accepted the grafts taken from his thigh and the doctors are very happy with the way he looks,” Whitney said.
“He has follow-up appointments now to treat the burns around his eyes. The faces and bodies of my Kyle and my children will probably not be the same.”
“I will forever be grateful that Kyle got to the bus first,” she added.
“Kyle said he ran through the flames to run to the back of the bus and saw Pepper and Krew both standing at the back of the bus between the bunks.
“He says he knew he couldn’t let them down and that he had to get them out [or] die trying. Kyle scooped Krew into his arms. Then he turned to Pepper, who was stunned. When he grabbed her, she was very reluctant and started to push him. She thought Kade was still inside,” Whitney noted.
“Kyle then ran into the flames… Then it was like everything stopped and time froze,” he reported.
Whitney suffered burns to her hands from helping her husband and children out of the trailer and putting out Pepper’s flames.
She pulled her injured family away from the burning vehicle and just a minute later it exploded.
“I grabbed her arm and pulled her off the bus and threw my body over her, petting her and extinguishing the flames all over her body and hair,” Whitney said.
“Within 1 minute of Kyle getting off the bus, the first explosion went off. If Kyle had hesitated, it wouldn’t have worked. I only know that the result would have been much worse.
“Kyle and I talked about how we believe our bodies are temporary and any lasting scars, deformities or illnesses will be part of the experience. We thank God that we are alive.
“I told Kyle that I was particularly grateful that he had suffered some of the same injuries as the children. They will have a father who can relate and empathize with them.
“I’m grateful again that our children don’t have to walk the road to recovery alone. He is the father who got them out and the father who will get them through this tragedy, alongside them. I have full confidence in their role to protect and lead.”
The Copeland family sold their home in May 2021 to embark on full-time travel that summer to make up for “years filled with military separations, addiction recovery and medical trauma,” according to their Instagram page, @copelandbuslife, where 26,000 people followed their family trip.
“We are becoming much stronger as a family and we feel deeper degrees of compassion and love,” said Copeland. “Life is good and we choose to see life as a beautiful experience. We are survivors, not victims.
“I am grateful for my wife, who is willing and able to take on enormous stress and responsibility while being able to nurture and love her family with grace.