It's not a Hollywood movie set - it's Long Sault, where on Monday, January 20, 2020, a bus caught fire and burned, but thankfully nobody got hurt. Handout/Cornwall Standard-Freeholder/Postmedia Network Handout Not For Resale SUPPLIED
LONG SAULT — A driver is being hailed as a hero after a visually shocking school bus incident on Monday afternoon that didn’t result in any injuries.
A Roxborough Bus Lines school bus caught fire and burned in the north end of Long Sault, and the driver and seven children on board at the time the fire started were able to evacuate safely.
SDG OPP Const. Tylor Copeland confirmed some of the accounts that were circulating on social media: the fire occurred at approximately 4 p.m., on French Avenue, and not far from Ouellette Avenue.
He said SDG OPP officers were on scene afterwards, helping with traffic control.
The incident looked like it could have gone down on a Hollywood set, but it occurred in a residential area of a small village, with firefighters from the South Stormont Fire and Emergency Services responding to the call, and with backup from the Ingleside station.
“The bus was fully engulfed when we got there,” fire chief Gilles Crepeau told the Standard-Freeholder on Tuesday afternoon.
Crepeau said the students had all safely been transported to another bus by the time the firefighters arrived, and the driver remained on scene.
“My educated guess is that it started in the engine area, and travelled back through the bus,” said Crepeau, who couldn’t recall any similar incidents having ever occurred in the municipality.
Several social media accounts indicated the bus was travelling westbound on French Avenue when the fire began, and that thanks to the swift actions of the driver, all of the kids were evacuated quickly and safely.
“Not only did she (the driver evacuate) the children, but also quickly brought them at least 300 feet down the street away from the burning bus, in the event of an explosion,” wrote one eyewitness.
The eyewitness said 9-1-1 and Roxborough Bus Lines were both called by cellphone moments after the evacuation.
The Standard-Freeholder was able to reach Nick McRae, the Roxborough Bus Lines general manager and one of the owners, late on Tuesday afternoon, and he praised the efforts of the driver.
“She did a great job,” McRae said. “She followed all of the procedures to a T. We’re proud of her – it could have been a lot worse. . . it’s something that doesn’t happen often, but it doesn’t take long for a fire to spread quickly.’’
McRae said the bus was transporting students home from Ecole Rose des Vents, and that after the fire, another bus was quickly made available to get the kids home.
As for the cause of the fire, McRae said it could have started at the electrical panel, but nothing is conclusive at this point.
“We’re still looking things over,” he said.
Link to original article on standard-freeholder.com: Shocking scene, but no injuries, as school bus burns in Long Sault