Friday will mark one year since a deadly school bus accident on Interstate 80 in Morris County.
On the eve of the anniversary, News 12 New Jersey spoke with a firefighter who was first on the scene thanks to being in the right place at the right time.
Roselle firefighter Zach Weissglass says that he knows that he was meant to be a first responder. The 25-year-old says that he loves to help people. But he says that he had no idea the impact he would have on May 17, 2018. “I was just getting off shift. I was going to visit my dad in Pennsylvania,” he says.
What started off as a normal drive on I-80 quickly changed course when Weissglass witnessed a Paramus school bus start to make an illegal U-turn on the highway and get struck by a dump truck.
“I immediately stopped and I thought the bus was empty at first,” he says. “I went to go see if the driver was OK and at that point, I realized the bus was filled with children…It was actually surprisingly quiet because all the kids were in shock.”