MTC Fire/Rescue students put out a bus fire after the SKILLS USA awards ceremony the evening of April 5th. Read on for the full account by Lt. Jolene Powell, Instructor for the MTC Fire/Rescue Program:
Jolene's Account
As we returned from the Roanoke Civic Center just after the SKILLS USA awards ceremony, our school bus was dropping all of the MTC students off in front of our hotel. As we exited our bus, we (The firefighting students and I) smelled a strong smell of what we thought were hot brakes.
As we walked to the charter bus that had pulled in behind us, we looked in the rear wheel wells to see heavy flames under the bus. Our crew sprang into quick action. One student called 9-1-1, another cleared people away from the bus, one made sure all passengers were off the charter bus, one opened the access panel to motor area, while two of us retrieved fire extinguishers. One extinguisher from our school bus and the one off of the charter bus. We successfully put out the bus fire. Once the local fire department arrived, we told them all that had happened. They used their Thermal image camera to make sure all the fire was out.
Once all was "under control", the firefighters and fire officers from the responding fire apparatus were looking around at us with a puzzled look. They noticed that we were all wearing our Class A uniforms and several students still had their medals/ribbons around their necks that they were awarded from the competitions that they had competed in and won. One of the firefighters from the Engine crew asked: "Were you all at the Fire Training grounds today competing in Skills USA?" We answered with a "Yes Sir, were you there?". With a little chuckle he answered: "Yes, we were the judges". I responded by saying: "Well, here are your winners!" They were very impressed and thought it was pretty awesome that these young firefighters jumped into action to put out the fire. Had they not put out the fire, the bus would have been well involved with fire by the time the fire department showed up.
The passengers on the bus were very grateful and proud of these young men.
The MTC Fire/Rescue Students involved in putting out this fire are:
- Tyler Phillips, a member of Clover Hill Vol FIre/Rscue (TAHS - 1st place in Firefighting)
- Joel Bradley, a member of Grottoes Vol. Fire Dept. (SHS - 2nd place in Firefighting)
- Cody Foley, a member at Hose Co #4 (BHS - 4th place in Firefighting)
- Lauren Hornick, a member at Timberville Vol. Fire Dept. (BHS - 2nd in First Aid/CPR)
- Cody Stephenson, a member at Grottoes Vol. Fire Dept. (SHS - 6th in First Aid/CPR)
I am very proud of their bravery and the team work they showed during this emergency situation.
Lt. Jolene Powell, Instructor
MTC Fire/Rescue Program