School bus crashes into utility pole in Kingston, causes brief fire

KINGSTON – A small fire erupted after a school bus hit a utility pole Tuesday in Kingston, though no one was hurt in the crash and the fire was contained, according to the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office.

The crash involving a Genoa-Kingston School District 424 school bus occurred at 7 a.m. Tuesday, near the intersection of Wolf and Kingston roads, according to the news release.

DeKalb County Sheriff Andy Sullivan said eight students and a driver were on board the school bus at the time of the crash. None reported injuries, according to the news release.

“The school bus, they were radio’d that they missed picking up a student,” Sullivan said. “They turned around at a farm entrance and when they were backing up the bus struck a utility pole, which caused the wires to come down.”

The downed wires sparked a small fire in a ditch near the crash, but Sullivan said the Genoa-Kingston Fire Protection District responded and contained the fire.

The 2021 school bus, driven by a 44-year-old Kingston resident, sustained minor damage but was able to be driven away from the scene of the crash, according to the news release.

ComEd workers also responded the scene, and told deputies that the utility pole that was struck does not need to be replaced.

“It was like a transformer box,” Sullivan said. “When it [the school bus] backed into the pole, a wire must have came loose from that box and that’s what went to the ground, apparently causing the fire in the ditch.”

Genoa-Kingston School District officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.