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Nov 19, 2009 6:55 pm US/Central
First Responder Describes Tour Bus Crash Scene
AUSTIN, Minn. (WCCO) ―
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Firefighters from around the area attach two tow trucks to the bus that rolled Wednesday on Interstate 90.
Brie Cohen/Albert Lea Tribune
While investigators continue looking into what caused a bus to rollover near Austin, Minn., one of the first responders to the scene recalls what he saw that afternoon on I-90.
Firefighter Matt Webb feared the worst the second he got that call for help.
"That was my first thought, that we have a busload of kids," said Webb, a firefighter in the Glenville Fire Department, just southeast of Albert Lea.
He was surprised to find a tour bus full of middle-aged and older Minnesotans, on their way back from a day at an Iowa casino.
Webb and his colleagues were there within 10 minutes of the crash and found the bus on its side. One second it was on the road, and the next it was flying into a ditch. That's where it overturned and landed just after 3 p.m., west of Austin.
All 23 people on the bus were hurt and many were bleeding.
When Webb got to the scene, he saw many people sitting on blankets next to the bus and others wrapped in blankets. Webb and his team were there to help those who were hurt and calm their fears.
"It kind of progressed as you went down the line, the more serious they got. And those were the ones that paramedics were tending too," Webb said. "And then us first responders were going over the other ones that were less critical, monitoring them, keeping an eye on them, making sure nothing was wrong."
Yet, not everyone was out of the bus. Webb and other first responders went to work getting them to safety.
"We were right there at the emergency hatches, helping people out. And then there were a few people that had to be on backboards to get out. But the ones we helped out were the ones who were still able to walk and weren't hurt too seriously," he said.
After six years as a firefighter, Webb's seen how quickly someone's life can change. He's a second-generation firefighter in his family, following in his father's footsteps. On Wednesday, the reason he joined the ranks became clear.
"I mean, why not help the people that you live and work with, when they're in need of something," Webb said.
He'll always remember the scene being chaotic, but organized chaos, he said, with everyone pitching in as a team to save lives.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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