School Bus and Fire Truck Collide on South Side

By Louis in News on Mar 23, 2007 4:19PM

One firefighter is dead, and 3 others were injured this morning when a fire truck collided with a school bus. The fire truck was traveling westbound on 59th street with its sirens and lights on. The school bus was traveling southbound and could not stop in time. Eyewitnesses say that the truck attempted to swerve but hit the bus and flipped onto its right side.

As far as positives go, the only person on the school bus was the driver, the children had already been dropped off at school. However, one of the firefighters, 44-year-old William Grant died from his injuries. He was a 20 year veteran of the force.

The Southbound ramp of the Dan Ryan at 59th Street has been closed, and the CTA No. 24 Wentworth and the No. 59 59th/61st buses were rerouted around the scene of the accident.

It is amazing that no one else was hurt as the collision of a school bus and a fire truck could only be described as one of the most brutal displays of physics (mass + inertia).