Three students and one adult were transported to hospital following a collision between a school bus and a vehicle in Hamilton Township on Tuesday, September 16, 2025.
The bus was travelling east on Forest Hill Drive at approximately 9 a.m. carrying 25 students from St. Michael Catholic Elementary School and Notre Dame Catholic Elementary School. A vehicle exited a private driveway and attempted to turn west when it collided heavily with the bus.
Northumberland OPP received the call at 9:12 a.m. reporting of the collision and responded.
Local resident Tamara Ugolini happened to come across the scene only moments after it happened.
Because the damage wasn’t visible from Ugolini’s vantage point, it wasn’t obvious at first a collision had occurred.
“I noticed the bus had stopped, but there weren’t the usual flashing lights and the stop arm wasn’t out.”
Shortly after she noticed the debris on the roadway and knew the bus was involved in a collision.
“I looked around and thought there is no police or EMS so this must have just happened.”
Immediately she pulled over and got out of her vehicle to see if she could help.
“I just went right to the side of the bus to see if everyone was ok. That was my immediate concern. When
I walked around I saw the extensive front end damage of the vehicle. It looked like that vehicle was pretty much totalled, but there was extensive damage also to the bus.
Ugolini said everyone seemed “shaken up” and she could hear the cries of children on the school bus.
“As a mom that really pulls at my heartstrings. You don’t want to see any kid in distress.”
“The kids were pretty rattled so as a mother myself hearing that in the bus, I thought how can I help calm the kids down or just reassure them that everyone is ok.”
With some students having cell phones, some parents began to arrive, but no emergency services.
Even a mechanic arrived from the bus company, but time went on, and still no emergency services.
“The consensus was the children had to be assessed, and no one had arrived,” said Ugolini.
“We were saying, “where are they?”
Northumberland OPP was the first emergency response responder to arrive on scene at 9:25 a.m.
Hamilton Township Fire Department were dispatched to the collision at 9:34 a.m. and responded one minute later, but were told by fire radio dispatch in Peterborough to“stand-down” because “there was no obvious injuries.”
Hamilton Township continued their response arriving on scene at 9:43 a.m.
Northumberland Paramedics received the call at 9:32 a.m. and arrived 13-minutes later at 9:47 a.m.
Several paramedic units and a supervisor did arrive with all 25 of the students having been assessed by paramedics at 10:37 a.m.
“Two parents had arrived, a mechanic had arrived and the back-up bus to take the kids eventually to their final destination of school had also arrived. So all these people had got on scene and there were no police, paramedics or fire – no one.”
Communications Manager for Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington Catholic District School Board (PVNCCDSB), Galen Eagle said all other students were either picked up by their parents or transported safely to school by a replacement bus.
Both school principals attended the scene to support students, liaise with emergency responders, and communicate with families.
“The safety and well-being of our students is always our highest priority. We are grateful for the quick response of first responders and for the care shown by our staff in supporting students during and after the incident.”
The driver of the car was charged with careless driving.
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
