VFD Fire Truck Strikes School Bus Stopped at Railroad Tracks

Friday 5/24/24 11:32 am.

A Vermilion Local School District bus operated by William Menke was stationary facing northbound on Douglas Street near the railroad tracks. A Vermilion Fire Department fire truck operated by Dominic Statford and containing 3 other VFD members, was traveling northbound on Douglas Street responding to a fire call. The fire truck attempted to overtake the stationary school bus while it was stopped at the railroad tracks on Douglas St.

The VLSD bus’s driver side mirror was struck by VFD firetruck passenger side mirror when the VFD firetruck attempted to pass by the VLSD bus’s left side.

Accident witness Assistant Superintendent Wes Weaver advised that the VLSD bus was in front of him, and observed the bus’s left side being approximately 4 inches past the double yellow line on the roadway. He also said it was very tight and the bus was up close to the crossing without anywhere to go. The other 3 witnesses were VFD members in the truck with Dominic Stratford; Derek Kuba, John Miles and Braydon Dotson.

No citations were issued. Talking to Vermilion Local School District Treasurer Justin Klingshirn, it seems the damage is minor and its likely an insurance claim may not be filed. Vermilion Fire Department Chief Bill Brown stated that Dominic Stratford was taken to Mercy Health and drug tested as is required in accident situations.

Overtaking a bus stopped at a set of tracks, not having assured clear distance and striking another vehicle were some of the reasons we thought a citation could be issued. When we inquired about citations with the Vermilion Police, they stated that it was up to the officer on site to make judgement’s on whether to issue citations.

The VFD do not have dash cams equipped in their vehicles so we were not able to obtain video of the incident We were however able to records request Vermilion Police bodycam and dash footage as well as pictures of the damage taken by VPD and will update and release those images when they become available.

Its been a tough month for the Vermilion Fire Department Chief Bill Brown. This latest incident caps off a eventful month of; five members leaving the department citing a toxic work environment, which has left the department down 40% in personel over two years ago. 30 or so audience members had attended the Special City Council Meeting to have an opportunity to speak with council and Chief Brown, but the Idleview fire that day made Brown unable to attend. Those members were not afforded an opportunity due to Brown not being there, in addition to Steve Herron’s interpretation of the rules not requiring the public to be able to speak at Special Council Meetings.

For those that wanted to speak to Chief Brown your next opportunity will be at the Vermilion City Council Meeting on Monday, June 3rd at 6pm at 687 Decatur St. Chief Brown is expected to give his 2023 report to council during the meeting as well as answer your questions.

We would be remiss if we did not mention that there have been two fires after these resignations. The first fire on Idleview, initially only was able to field three VFD members, the water main was also busted, the main culprit being too much pressure being put through the line. The second fire had a fender bender. So far, we are not seeing the professionalism Chief Brown has previously mentioned and assured us was in place. The personel who fielded these calls are from The Group. They’ve had at least two chances to show us and both times there were big issues that were impactful to performance.

We’ve lost our most experienced firefighters who responded the most, for less experienced, less responsive firefighters. How does that improve professionalism within the department?