Scott County to honor bus fire hero at game; football team adjusts to loss of gear
The Scott County football team’s bus fire last Friday night on their way home from Lexington could have ended tragically if not for the actions of a box-truck driver who spotted the trouble and alerted those on board to the danger and the coaches who reacted quickly.
Friday, Scott County football parents will fly Alvin Edwards to Central Kentucky for a visit to Birds Nest Stadium for their rivalry game with Great Crossing and honor him ahead of the kickoff. Edwards will receive a key to the city from Georgetown Mayor Tom Prather and be recognized for his heroic actions.
“I’m nervous to be around all the people but I’m excited,” Edwards said. “I’ve had so many calls from kids and talked to them over the phone, and mothers that’s just so caring and just made me feel good about it. I’m going to be honored to be there.”
Edwards was traveling on I-75 last Friday when he spotted the bus off in the distance with a fire-like glow under its tire on the driver’s rear side. When he got closer and spotted large flames under the backside of the bus, he convinced the driver to pull over and attempted to control the blaze before helping evacuate the players and coaches onboard.
“You can imagine if you have children and that was your child, they are just unbelievably appreciative of the semi-truck driver,” Cardinals Coach Jim McKee said. “He lives in Dallas. We’re going to honor him at the game and have a cookout on Saturday for him.”
Edwards will also be honored at a youth Scott County football game and the Georgetown College football game against Pikeville on Saturday. He has already exchanged numerous phone calls with Scott County citizens appreciative of his actions, and he said he looks forward to putting faces to the many names he has talked to.
“We hope this weekend is something he’ll be able to take back home and just know he’s a part of the Scott County family now,” said Steve Helton, Scott County’s athletics director.
McKee also praised assistant coaches Monty McIntyre and Chris Travis for keeping everyone calm and getting them out safely.
“I wasn’t there, and they did such a good job,” McKee said. “In a situation like that, it’s probably kind of surreal, like it’s not really going on, but they were able to act quickly.”
While all the people escaped unharmed, many personal belongings and most of the team’s defensive gear did not.
Scott County lost 30 road jerseys, 30 helmets and 30 sets of shoulder pads, McKee said.
A call to Mayfield Coach Joe Morris and his Cardinals of western Kentucky, garnered 13 spare solid red helmets, but some players will have to share helmets during games until factory replacements arrive. McKee thanked Riddell for moving his team up the priority list after company officials saw the fire video. He believes new helmets should be shipped within the next week or so.
Scott County also will have to play in their home uniforms the rest of the year as replacement road whites midseason will be hard to come by, especially in a style to match the ones they have as jersey fashion changes subtly year-over-year.
“I’m not going to worry about that until December,” McKee said. “We’re going to get through all that. You’ve got to focus on what you have to focus on. … We’re going to have a great practice today. We’ve got a good team and we’re getting better.”
This story was originally published September 29, 2021 at 1:17 PM.
