No students were hurt today when an Elba school bus on Union Avenue, Batavia, swerved off the road and into a fence surrounding Notre Dame High School's football field.
There were 16-18 students on the bus, all Elba residents who attend Notre Dame.
Sgt. John Peck said the driver apparently suffered a medical condition, though he is being cited for alleged failure to keep right.
An accident with injuries is reported at Ellicott and Jackson streets.
One person may have neck and back injuries.
City Fire Department and Mercy EMS responding.
UPDATE 8:48 a.m.: The scene is clear. No further information at this time. The vehicle had plates from outside the state.
An accident with injuries is reported at Route 20 and Asbury Road in Pavilion. Pavilion Fire Department and medics are responding. Mercy Flight from Batavia is on in-air standby.
UPDATE 2:33 p.m.: Traffic will be shut down at South Street and Route 20. A guide wire from a utility pole is blocking the roadway and needs to be cut and removed.
UPDATE 2:44 p.m.: Mercy Flight is cancelled.
UPDATE 3:06 p.m.: Pavilion is back in service. Fire police will remain on scene along with State Troopers until the one vehicle involved is removed. One person is being transported to Strong Memorial Hospital.
UPDATE 3:54 p.m.: Pavilion Fire Police are back in service. The roadway is open.
A driver involved in a head-on collision on Route 63, Bethany, on Jan. 20 died at 7 p.m., Tuesday, at Strong Memorial Hospital.
Gene L. Kelsey, 70, reportedly died as a result of injuries sustained in the crash.
According to a Sheriff's Office investigation, Kelsey failed to stop at a stop sign coming off of Fargo Road.
He was also allegedly driving drunk.
A passenger in Kelsey's truck, Michael Snyder, age unknown and no listed address, was also injured in the crash.
A car has reportedly hit a pole and a person is injured in the area of 5353 Ford Road, Elba.
Elba Fire Department and Mercy EMS dispatched.
UPDATE 10:42 a.m.: The occupant is complaining of neck and shoulder pain. Mercy Flight is on an in-air standby. The pole is broken off, but no wires are in the roadway.'
UPDATE 10:54 a.m.: Route 262 being closed at Transit and at Norton roads. A landing zone is being set up for Mercy Flight.
UPDATE 10:57 a.m.: Mercy Flight has landed.
UPDATE 11:17 a.m.: Mercy Flight in the air, in route to Strong.
UPDATE 11:31 a.m.: The portion of Route 262 that's closed will remain so until the pole can be cleared.
A two-car accident with injuries is reported in front of Batavia High School, located at 260 State St. in the City of Batavia. City firefighters and Mercy EMS are responding.
UPDATE 3:01 p.m.: A second ambulance is responding to the scene.
UPDATE 3:15 p.m.: A 37-year-old female driver and her passenger are being transported to UMMC with complaints of neck and back pain.
UPDATE 3:23 p.m.: City fire is back in service.
A motor-vehicle accident is reported at the sharp curve in the area of 1013 Ledge Road in Alabama. There are injuries. The location is west of Route 77, on the Tonawanda Indian Reservation. Alabama Fire Department and Mercy medics are responding.
UPDATE 1:21 p.m.: A responder on scene says there is one vehicle involved and it is off the roadway and in the woods.
UPDATE 1:38 p.m.: The vehicle is a 1994 green Ford Explorer. The driver and a passenger are from Rochester.
UPDATE 2:38 p.m.: Alabama Fire Department is back in service. Didn't hear an update on the occupants. Presumably they are OK.
An accident involving a tractor-trailer and pickup truck is reported at routes 19 and 20 in Pavilion. There are no injuries, but it is blocking the roadway. Pavilion Fire Department is responding and traffic police are called to the scene.
UPDATE 3:27 p.m.: The crippled tractor-trailer has finally been removed from the roadway and is awaiting a tow truck.
A third-party caller has reported a motor-vehicle accident at Route 63 and Roanoke Road, Pavilion.
There are reportedly injuries.
Dispatch has received no other calls.
Pavilion Fire Department and Mercy EMS are being dispatched.
UPDATE 6:28 a.m.: Fire police dispatched to the scene for traffic control. A deputy on scene reports dangerous road conditions.
UPDATE 6:48 a.m.: We missed any further transmission about the nature of injuries, if any. The Pavilion assignment is back in service and the roadway is reopened.
A two-car accident with injuries is reported at 6808 Ellicott Street Road. Pavilion Fire Department and Mercy EMS are responding. The accident is blocking the roadway.
A slippery highway is to blame for a one-car accident at 6:53 p.m., Saturday, that sent one person to the hospital with minor injuries.
Adam F. Helmer, 28, of Chestnut Ridge, Middleport, was reportedly driving west on Route 5 in the area of the former Batavia Party House, Stafford, when he lost control of a 2005 Ford pickup truck.
The truck slid off the south shoulder of Route 5 and into a ditch, turning onto its passenger side.
Helmer's passenger, 27-year-old Cheryl Cary, of Chestnut Ridge, Middleport, who owns the truck, was transported to UMMC by Mercy EMS.
The infant with Helmer and Cary was not injured.
No citations were issued.
The accident was investigated by Sgt. Greg Walker.
A two-car accident with unknown injuries is reported at 3990 Drake Street Road in Elba. The location is between Weatherwax and Pekin roads. Elba Fire Department is responding along with Mercy EMS.
UPDATE 7:15 p.m.: A responder at the scene reports one person has a back injury.
UPDATE: Also, the ambulance that responded to this scene was rear-ended as it was leaving the scene. Another ambulance had to respond and transport the paitent. The accident was a minor property damage accident.
A vehicle occupied by two adults and one infant is reportedly on its side in the area of 5801 E. Main Road, Stafford, but only minor injuries are reported.
The location is just east of Batavia Party House.
Stafford Fire Department and Mercy EMS dispatched.
A one-vehicle rollover accident without injuries is reported on Route 20 in the area of West Bethany Road. The driver is out of the vehicle. Bethany Fire Department is responding. So are medics as a precaution.
A two-car accident with minor injuries is reported at 4029 W. Main St. Road in Batavia. It's in the area of the Marks Trail Motel. One person is complaining of a shoulder injury. Town of Batavia firefighters and Mercy EMS are responding.
A three-car accident is reported at routes 33 and 237. All vehicles are off the road. There is reportedly one person with a back injury and another with a chest injury, neither are serious. Stafford Fire Department is responding along with two Mercy rigs.
UPDATE 1:52 p.m.: Two patients are being transported to UMMC in one of the Mercy rigs. One is a 33-year-old male who was a driver in the accident. He was wearing a safety belt. He has some lumbar pain. The other patient is a 22-year-old female who was a passenger in the accident. She was also wearing a safety belt and has complaints of right shoulder pain. The second Mercy rig which responded is back in service.
UPDATE 2:10 p.m.: Stafford Fire Department is back in service.
A one-vehicle accident is reported on the Thruway with one occupant entrapped and possibly unconscious.
Mercy Flight is on standby.
The accident is in the area of mile marker 383.6 in the eastbound lane.
Le Roy fire and ambulance dispatched.
UPDATE 1:09 p.m.: A dispatcher informed the Le Roy chief that he spoke with somebody in the toll booth center who said the Thruway Authority did not want Mercy Flight dispatched. The dispatcher said he informed the person that it was the fire chief's call.
UPDATE 1:14 p.m.: The victim is out of the car and with State Troopers on scene. The car is well off the road and on its side. Mercy Flight can stand down.
UPDATE 1:39 p.m.: Le Roy Ambulance Service is headed to Strong Memorial Hospital with two patients on board. Le Roy fire crews are back in service.
An accident involving multiple vehicles is reported on Route 63 near Transit Road. It is completely blocking the roadway. There is no entrapment. Wires are everywhere. National Grid is called. Bethany Fire Department is responding along with Mercy EMS.
Pavilion Fire Department is asked to respond as mutual aid and shut down Route 63 at Bethany Center Road. Southbound traffic is to be shut down at Bethany Center Road / Batavia Stafford Townline Road at Route 63 by Town of Batavia Fire Department, responding as mutual aid.
The roadway is slippery and wet. One person in a minivan has minor injuries, according to law enforcement on scene. At least one car is off the road.
UPDATE 1:33 a.m.: Traffic on Transit Road is backed up at least all the way to East Bethany Le Roy Townline Road. Pole number 6084 6072 is damaged.
UPDATE 1:36 a.m.: The person in the minivan is "all set," and medics are asked to check on the driver of a tractor-trailer. The transformer on the damaged pole is leaking. National Grid has an ETA of 35 minutes. Northbound traffic is also shut down on Route 63 at the juncture with Route 20.
UPDATE 1:50 a.m.: One car struck the utility pole. And a tractor-trailer that followed pulled down the wires. (It is considered two separate accidents, and other drivers involved responded to that sequence of events.) Mercy medics are back in service. The mother of the minivan driver responded to the scene.
UPDATE 1:59 a.m.: At this point, it appears to be just a matter of getting vehicles towed as needed and clearing the roadway so traffic flow can resume.
UPDATE 2:08 a.m.: There will be no further updates to this post.
A two-car accident is reported in Le Roy on East Bethany -- Le Roy Road, between Munson Street and Cole Road.
No word on injuries. Le Roy Fire Department is responding.
UPDATE 12:06 p.m.: Le Roy Ambulance Service is on scene. Responders are told to come in non-emergency mode. The accident involved a utility pole.
UPDATE 12:10 p.m.: Traffic is being slowed to one lane, but the scene will clear very soon.
UPDATE 12:14 p.m.: Le Roy assignment is back in service.
A pickup truck driver reportedly blew right through a stop sign coming off of Fargo Road, Bethany, just before 11 a.m., Friday, and struck a semi-truck head on that was northbound on Route 63.
Investigators are trying to determine if alcohol and prescription medication were factors in the crash.
The pickup driver, Gene L. Kelsey, 70, of Pekin Road, Oakfield, was taken by Mercy Flight to Strong Memorial Hospital where is his listed in guarded condition.
Kelsey's passenger, Michael Snyder, unknown age and residence, was initially transported to UMMC -- after walking to the ambulance -- but was later transferred to Strong. He remains hospitalized in satisfactory condition.
The semi-truck driver, George Wolwerk, 51, of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, was not injured.
"When I first saw him (Kelsey) he was already past that stop sign and he was traveling at a fair amount of speed," Wolwerk said. "I saw him and next thing I knew all the steam from the radiator was coming out over the top (of the front of the cab)."
Investigators said they believe Kelsey, driving a 2001 Dodge 1500 pickup, did not stop at the stop sign and yield to traffic on Route 63.
Neither Kelsey nor Snyder were reportedly wearing safety belts.
NYSP's commercial vehicle enforcement unit conducted a level one inspection of the tractor-trailer and found no deficiencies.
The Sheriff's Office Crash Management Team is working on a reconstruction of the accident.
Bethany Fire Chief Jeff Fluker said the intersection "has been a problem in the past, with a curve like this and the angle coming off the road," but most people he said, know to stop for the stop sign and take a good look before proceeding onto Route 63.
Wolwerk said he's quite familiar with the road and know he needs to slow down as he approaches the curve on Route 63 just north of Fargo Road.
He said he did the best he could to avoid the accident.
"At that moment you're helpless and you just do what you can to try and minimize the loss," Wolwerk said.
This isn't Wolwerk's first serious accident. He said some years ago a "dear old lady" failed to stop for a stop sign and wrapped her car around his axels. She didn't survive, he said.
Asked if that's the kind of thing a truck driver ever gets over, Wolwerk said, "You have to have the guts to get over that type of thing, and yeah, you do. Truck drivers out here, they got a job that is very demanding."
The accident is being investigated by Deputy John Duyssen and Sgt. Scott Williams. Assisting at the scene where the Bethany Volunteer Fire Department, Pavilion Volunteer Fire Department, Mercy EMS, Mercy Flight and the State Police.
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