Firefighter hit, killed by bus on Interstate 57

BENTON, Ill. -- A Greyhound bus hit and killed a firefighter who had just helped douse a tractor-trailer blaze along Interstate 57 early Friday near the southern Illinois community, Illinois State Police said.

James Miller, a 43-year-old volunteer with the Sesser Fire Protection District, died at the scene of the crash about 4:20 a.m., state trooper David Sneed said.

No one on the bus was injured, Sneed said. Anna Folmnsbee, a spokeswoman for Dallas-based Greyhound Lines Inc., said the Memphis-to-Chicago bus had 51 passengers and a driver.

"There are reports from some passengers on the bus that maybe the driver was sleepy" when the crash happened, Sneed said.

Sneed said Sesser firefighters were on the highway because they got a call around 3 a.m. about a tractor-trailer rig that had caught fire, apparently after the truck's brakes locked up and ignited the trailer.

The firefighters were wrapping up their hoses and working to clear the scene when the Greyhound bus apparently traveled through cones set out to divert traffic into one lane and hit the left, rear side of a Sesser fire truck, then struck Miller, Sneed said.

The bus continued a short distance before pulling off onto the shoulder, Sneed said.

The emergency trucks' flashing lights were in use at the time, Sneed said.

Sneed said the bus driver, 41-year-old Sammie B. Rogers Jr., was ticketed for failing to give the emergency vehicles an appropriately wide berth along the highway, as well as with improper lane usage. Rogers is believed to be from the Chicago area, Sneed said.

State police planned to inspect the bus for any mechanical defects, Sneed said. Folmnsbee, the Greyhound spokeswoman, said the bus' inspection history was not immediately available.

It was not clear how fast the bus was traveling at the time of the crash.

Northbound lanes of the highway were closed for more than four hours after the fatal wreck before they were reopened, Sneed said.

The bus' passengers were transferred onto another Greyhound to complete their trips, Folmnsbee said.

"Obviously, it's a very unfortunate situation, and we're definitely going to do everything we can to cooperate and work with police" while investigating the matter internally, Folmnsbee said.

A person who answered the Sesser fire department's telephone Friday said no one was immediately available for comment.