On March 15 at 4:04 p.m., Charles County Sheriff’s Officers responded to the intersection of Berry Road and Middletown Road in Waldorf for the report of a crash involving Charles County School Bus number 81 and an Indian Head Volunteer Fire Department ladder truck.
Investigation revealed the fire truck was responding to a fire in Waldorf and was traveling east on Berry Road with its lights and siren activated. The school bus was turning left from northbound Middletown Road onto westbound Berry Road. The front of the school bus struck the right front bumper of the fire truck and scraped the passenger side of the fire truck as it passed. Speed does not appear to be a factor.
The 27 children on the bus were being transported from Berry Elementary School, located at 10155 Berry Road near the intersection of Middletown Road. No students were injured but another school bus responded to the scene and took the students and the driver, Jean Elizabeth Younger, 36, of Marbury, to Civista Medical Center in La Plata as a precaution per the policy of Charles County Public Schools. The driver of the fire truck, William Roy Massey, 35, of Indian Head, and one of the other firefighters onboard were also not injured. A third firefighter sustained a minor injury that was treated at the scene.
Cpl. D. Belfield of the Traffic Operations Unit is investigating the crash. No charges have been filed.