Schools
Workers Praised for 'Quick Action' During CV Bus Fire
The three workers helped move other school buses to make sure there wasn't more damage.
Bob Gold was making his nightly rounds on Jan. 16 when he saw something that stunned him.
The Chartiers Valley School District’s facilities director found while sandwiched between several other buses at the Thoms Run Road storage depot.
“I just couldn’t believe my eyes,” Gold said. “I won’t repeat what I said, but it was a few choice words.”
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He called 911 and summoned other workers, John Wagner and Nate Backner, and they worked feverishly to snuff out the fire with extinguishers. But they couldn’t extinguish the blaze even as firefighters arrived, so they hopped in the adjacent buses and quickly backed them away from danger.
“It was intense,” Gold said. “I’ve never experienced anything like that.”
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Gold, Wagner and Backner were recognized during Tuesday night meeting for their quick thinking and bravery. The district played a short video clip of the bus fire that showed the flames on mini-bus No. 6 nearly reaching the others.
District Superintendent Brian Whilte Jr. said one of the other bus’s plastic mirrors was scorched from the intense heat.
“They took some very quick action to save that line of buses,” White said.
Also during the meeting…
- Board Vice President Pam Poletti asked White about complaints by students that some of the new laptop computers were experiencing problems and not able to access some useful websites. She pointed to a column written in the CharValiant student newspaper that listed problems that included losing documents, automatically shutting down or failing to access the Internet. White said he would like to discuss the problems with the board at a later date and figure out ways to correct them.
- The school board is beginning discussions on the 2012-13 school year that might begin on Aug. 23 and end June 7. Graduation is tentatively scheduled for June 6, and the promenade could be held on May 25, which is a Friday. All those dates are tentative and up for discussion.
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