A small New York school bus suddenly caught fire after colliding with a semi-truck on the Long Island Expressway early in the afternoon of Thursday, October 8, 2015. Both vehicles were traveling westward at the time of the collision, and two people—a teacher’s aide and the driver of the bus—were on board when the crash took place. Neither was injured in the accident. However, this may be due to the fact that both parties were rescued by an off-duty New York Police Department Transit Division cop who carried away both people just moments before the bus burst into flame.
The policeman, Officer Christopher Canale, was driving in his car accompanied by his wife when he saw the accident happen. He immediately leapt from the car and went on scene to the accident, looking for people inside the bus. Canale, father of two small preschool-aged children, reported that he felt he did what anyone would have done in his place.
After the accident, the bus’s driver was trapped behind the steering wheel, and Officer Canale heard screams coming from the disabled bus and came to offer assistance right away. He was able to free both the driver and the aide from the wreckage before the bus caught fire just moments later. The bus is reported to have smashed into the truck in a rear-end collision while the semi was pulled over to the far right shoulder of the expressway. The investigation into the precise cause of the accident is ongoing on this time.
Canale reported the aide as having been bloodied in the accident and appearing dazed, but no life-threatening injuries were sustained in the crash in spite of the explosive ending. Officer Canale is one of three siblings in his family who works in law enforcement, including one brother who is a twin, and is also the father of two children, aged 4 and 2.