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A car ran a stop sign, crashing into an upstate New York school bus returning from a field trip — killing the vehicle’s driver and his dog, injuring a student and staffer and igniting clouds of smoke and flames, police said.
William Fierstein, 73, failed to heed a stop sign on Webster Road in the town of Webster Wednesday afternoon, slamming his Sedan into a Wayne Central School District bus carrying 22 children, WROC reports.
The collision sent both vehicles off the road as they burst into flames, according to Webster Police.
Shocking video of the scenes shows billows of smoke rushing from the burning vehicles as first responders frantically searched both the bus and Sedan to make sure they were empty.
Fierstein and his dog were killed in the crash, while one student on the bus was rushed to the hospital with a leg injury.
A school staff member also was taken to the hospital for treatment.
The other students and two adults on the bus managed to escape the vehicle before it caught fire, with some of the kids suffering minor injuries that were treated at the scene, police and school officials said.
A second school bus was dispatched to pick up the students and teachers at a location they were taken to about a half mile from the deadly crash site.
“I express my deepest condolences to the Fierstein family,” Webster Police Chief Dennis Kohlmeier said in a statement. “I would also like to thank the bus driver, two chaperones and students who acted quickly with getting everyone off the bus.”
The Wayne Central School district also praised the quick work of first responders, saying in a statement: “No life-threatening injuries were sustained by students or school personnel… We are grateful to our local emergency responders for their immediate and exceptional care of our students and staff.”
Webster police said the crash remains under investigation.
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