By Ken Sugiura
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Copyright 2008 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
CHEROKEE COUNTY, Ga. — As the school bus took a curve across the road, William Lombardo and his tree-service crew were getting ready to head for a tornado-cleanup job in Roswell.
“We heard a loud noise, and all of the sudden, the bus was sliding sideways,” said Lombardo, president of Risk Management Disaster Services.
They heard the bus slam into one utility pole and then knock over the second, sliding on its side and dragging down power lines. Even as the bus slid, the crew started running to the crash.
“We were screaming more than the kids,” said Lombardo, who also called 911.
Lombardo and his crew turned out to be the first responders to the Cherokee County bus wreck Monday morning that sent 27 students and the driver to area hospitals.
Lombardo said at first his crew didn’t know if any students were aboard the bus. Then, he said, “people started coming out. That was my worst fear. That’s what was upsetting.”
When they neared the scene, some students on the bus were already on cellphones and beginning to try to climb out the right side of the bus, now facing skyward.
Lombardo said he and his workers surrounded the bus and directed students away from the power lines underneath the vehicle. They herded the kids into one spot so they could be accounted for.
“I just looked at them like they were my own kids,” said Lombardo, 40, who only minutes before had dropped his own children off at school. “We all looked at those children as if they were our own.”
As students climbed out of the bus, a manager, Mark Schovel, opened up the bus’ rear emergency exit and climbed in. Toward the back of the bus, one boy was unconscious. Schovel woke him up, and the boy asked for his mother to hold him, Lombardo said.
Schovel held his hand and asked him questions to keep him conscious, Lombardo said.
“The kid would come in and out,” Lombardo said. “His eyes would roll back.”
Authorities said a child who lost consciousness was airlifted to Atlanta Medical Center but that none of the students’ injuries was life-threatening, officials said. Some were taken to hospitals only as a precaution.
Lombardo described the students as disoriented and visibly upset, “but together. There was collaboration.”
Lombardo acknowledged the serendipity in his company being close to the scene. Lombardo said he has been responding to federal natural disasters for more than 20 years. His company was responsible for managing 400 square miles of Louisiana coast after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
“We were responsive, not reactive,” he said. “Our hearts go out to the parents. It was a privilege to help them.”