By Shawn Shinneman
The Northwest Herald
FOX RIVER GROVE, Ill. — For Robert Kreher, the frequent sounds of a nearby railroad crossing aren’t just white noise.
Kreher had been fire chief of the Fox River Grove Fire Department for five months when a Metra train struck a bus down the street from the fire department, killing seven high school students.
Nearly 15 years later, Kreher frequently still remembers the accident that shook the community and produced headlines across the country.
“I think about it all the time,” Kreher said. “Every time I hear that train whistle blowing, somebody could be on that track is the first thing that comes to mind.”
Kreher and his firefighters were at the Fox River Grove Fire Department Monday night as they dedicated their newest ambulance to Jeffrey Clark, Stephanie Fulham, Susanna Guzman, Michael Hoffman, Joe Kalte, Shawn Robinson and Tiffany Schneider — the seven teenagers who lost their lives while headed to school Oct. 25, 1995.
The ambulance is number 657 — the six identifies the Fox River Grove department, the five identifies the type of apparatus, an ambulance, and the seven represents the teenagers who died. On the ambulance, the number seven is accompanied by wings and a halo.
“That number seven is also a constant reminder of our responsibility to protect our community and to serve our people in times of need and crises,” department trustee Mike Kunz said during the dedication ceremony.
Approximately 12 years ago, the department dedicated the first ambulance they purchased after the accident to the victims, but did not put wings and a halo around the number seven.
“We don’t think anyone else in the community knew why that number was on it,” Kraher said.
With that ambulance recently reduced to work as a “water rescue rig,” Kraher said the department decided to dedicate their most recent purchase to the seven victims — this time making it more visible to the community.
Kraher said he thought the dedication meant a lot to the people of Fox River Grove, especially anyone involved in the incident in any capacity.
“The reminder is still over there,” Kreher said, pointing down the street towards the site of the accident, and referring to a plaque that honors the seven dead. “I don’t think anyone that was living here at the time will ever forget what happened that day. It was just a shock to the whole community.”
Department Chaplain Gerry Schalk said attempts to gather addresses of the families of victims widely were unsuccessful. One invite was sent out, he said, but no families were in attendance at the brief ceremony, for which Schalk provided the dedication prayer.
Schalk said he thought many of the families moved out of town in part to avoid driving by the site of the accident — the intersection of Algonquin Road and Northwest Highway.
“I think for a lot of those families that was going to be a very difficult thing to do,” Schalk said.
The bus was on Algonquin Road, stopped at the stoplight and hanging over the edge of the train tracks when the train struck the back third of the bus, killing five on the scene and two in the ensuing days.
Republished with permission from the Northwest Herald