From a relatively statistically below-average year, dominated by interventions such as a apartment fires and a car fires, an unusual case of a bus falling into a ravine stood out.

A bus carrying customers to the Globus shopping centre in Zličín, Prague, on April 18th, just after 10 a.m. swerved and went off a roughly 20-metre cliff, rolling over on its left side and remaining partially wedged against a rock and propped up by its front end with its stern protruding upwards. It stopped only a few metres from the pond. The result of the accident was a dead driver and 13 injured passengers.

Firefighters not only took part in the rescue effort, when the saddest task was to recover the driver’s body, but they also placed burrow water walls as a precaution to protect the environment. In the end, burrow walls were not needed as there was no visible leak of fuel or operational fluids, which was confirmed by the examination made by fire divers.

This case showed again the versatility and range of activities that fire brigade members are able to provide. After the crash, they not only secured the vehicle against leakage of operational fluids, but also with borrowed equipment were the only ones able to free the bus and prepare for towing (because of this they had to remove a piece of rock).