Student transportation provider Durham School Services has donated a school bus to the Fairfield Regional Fire School in Connecticut for safety training. The fire school, along with other fire departments in the community, will share the donated bus to simulate emergency situations and perform trainings such as strut stabilization and passenger extrication.

The donation to the Fairfield Regional Fire School, which is managed by the Fairfield Fire Department, was made as part of Durham School Services’ company-wide Partners Beyond the Bus community outreach program. These bus donations also help to repurpose retired, non-electric vehicles from DSS’ fleets, which further contributes to DSS’ transition to alternative fuel-powered and zero-emission buses. Durham School Services plans on transitioning to an all-zero-emission fleet by 2035.

“We see it as part of our duty to help keep the community in which we serve, safe. This is the reason behind our company’s numerous school bus donations to fire departments,” said Matt Lehane, DSS Stratford general manager. “With these school buses, firefighters are able to conduct safety trainings that allow them to become more familiar with how to respond to school bus accidents and emergency situations. This directly contributes to increasing the overall safety of the community and its students and is why we try to donate buses to fire departments whenever possible.”

“Ensuring the safety of our community is our top priority,” said Patrick Barry, director of the Fairfield Regional Fire School and assistant chief of training for the Fairfield Fire Department. “Durham School Services fully understands and supports that because it is also one of their own values. Thanks to them, we are able to uphold our promise to keep our community and students safe by performing vital safety trainings with much-needed props such as a school bus to simulate real-life emergency situations. The donation of the school bus has really expanded our recourses even further to continue to educate and train our first responders for any given emergency.”