MOUNT PLEASANT MILLS -- Wesley Bassler always keeps his eyes peeled when he's driving, looking for anyone who might need help.
It's a habit he picked up from his days as a volunteer with the Fremont Fire Company.
Last Wednesday, his vigilance paid off.
On the way to pick up his children at his mother-in-law's in Port Trevorton, after getting off work, Bassler passed an overturned school bus in a ditch along Produce Road outside Freeburg.
Due to the icy road conditions, driver Connie Marsh-Raker had slowed to about 10 mph. But when the bus began to slide, she was unable to steer it or stop it from rolling into the ditch, she said.
"I saw the bus over the bank. The back door was open, and there was a kid waving," said Bassler, 24. "So I stopped, jumped out and helped them, made sure everyone was OK."
Bassler said he was on the scene for about 15 to 20 minutes and left as soon as the first emergency responders arrived without leaving his name.
"I figured there was nothing else I could do," he said.
A couple other motorists stopped to make sure everyone was safe, Bassler said.
After the accident, Selinsgrove Area School District officials said they wanted to learn the identity of the man who had stopped at the accident scene to thank him for his help.
Two of the 19 children on the bus were taken to hospitals and kept overnight. They were released the next day.
Bassler, who spent a few years volunteering with the Fremont Fire Company, said he would have stopped regardless of his experience as an emergency responder.
"There's an accident, everybody should stop to help," he said. "At least to make sure everyone's OK."
n E-mail comments to rscott@dailyitem.com.
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