DADE COUNTY, Georgia - Friday, April 30,2010 - 5:50 pm - Just before 6:00 pm
on Friday afternoon a call came in to the Dade County 9-1-1 center reporting
a bus fire on Interstate 59 Southbound just south of the Interstate 24
split. Dispatchers quickly alerted the North Dade Volunteer Fire Department
of the call. Meanwhile, another Dade County Fire unit spotted heavy smoke
coming from the area and called it in over the radio. Within minutes, North
Dade Engine 4 was responding to the scene. Engine 4 quickly ran into
difficulty getting to the fire due to heavy traffic that had the shoulder
lanes blocked on the southbound lanes.
North Dade Engine 4 had to use some
aggressive tactic to get around the traffic that had the entire southbound
lanes, including the shoulders blocked. The situations was causing a major
delay in response time, however Engine 4 did finally get around the snarl
and arrive on scene shortly there after. Unfortunately the fire had spread
from the right rear tires into the cabin area of the bus and was growing
quickly.
Engine 4 under the command of Assistant
Chief Chris Lowrance quickly pulled and inch and 3/4 hose line to start a
primary attack. The minute Engine 4 arrived on the scene they reported heavy
involvement and requested additional tankers as well as assistance from the
Trenton Fire Department. Chief Lowrance, whom was in command of the scene
was well aware of the issue with the traffic blocking the southbound lanes
and knew he had no choice but to shut traffic down on the southbound side in
an attempt to create assess for the additional responding units by way of
the southbound lanes. Keeping traffic shut down would allow the fire units
to come north in the southbound lanes from the next exit on Interstate 59,
the Slygo exit. This quickly proved to be a smart move as North Dade Tanker
4 and the incoming Trenton unit were able to access the scene quickly, bring
more man power and several thousand gallons of additional water to fight the
fire.
Several additional North Dade County Fire
crews also arrived on the scene in short order and joined in the fire
attack. Crews pulled two more hose lines and within minutes were able to
start aggressively getting a knock down on the fire that was already
engulfing the interior of the bus. It took about an hour to get the fire
knocked down, mainly due to the lack of a water supply contributed to the
traffic and lack of fire hydrants on the interstate. However nobody was
injured as a result of the fire and crews did stop the fire before it had
time to consume the whole bus. The exact cause as to what started the fire
is still under investigation by fire officials.
The tour bus was headed back to
Springville Alabama with a group of school children and parents, who had
been on a field trip to the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga. As the were
traveling back a second bus behind them noticed the smoke from the rear of
the bus and called the bus to tell them they were on fire. The bus driver
quickly pulled over and the parents instructed the children to exit the bus
quickly but safely. Within minutes, the parents had the bus empty and
everyone to safety. Unfortunately, a lot of the children’s souvenirs were
lost in the fire. A lifeguard EMS unit was called to the scene for safety
and also to just quickly check the children out as a precaution.
Story and photos by
Bill Carson and Barb Wuelfing
