She Was First On Scene At The Amish School Explosion. Here’s What She Found — And How The Girls Are Doing

The first person on the scene of last week’s explosion and fire at a Pennsylvania Amish school gives an account of what she found. We also get an update on how the girls are doing. Here’s the latest from yourerie.com:

Kelsey Bova was the first on scene after a fire broke out at the Hidden View Amish School in Sparta Township last week.

When she arrived at Byler Road, she found the schoolhouse engulfed in flames. The EMT then began searching for victims, finding two students and a teacher with severe injuries at a nearby house.

“The three victims were right there. They were all in shock. They all had severe burns, melted clothes, all that stuff. It was heartbreaking, it was really hard to see, and they’re little kids, and even the teacher is just a teenager,” said Kelsey Bova, Spartansburg Volunteer Fire Department EMT.

“I hate that the little kids got burned, but this could’ve been so much worse.”

How Are The Girls Doing Now?

After the accident, all three were flown to hospital, in two separate cities:

According to Pennsylvania State Police, the 17-year-old teacher and two girls, ages six and 11, were flown to nearby hospitals with severe burns.

The youngest was flown to Rochester for treatment, and the other two victims were flown to Buffalo.

The two youngest, who were reportedly burned worse, have undergone skin graft surgery. The teacher is awaiting skin graft surgery. All are described as “stable with non-life-threatening injuries”. So that part is good, all things considered.

Helping The Girls And Their Families

The girls have a road ahead of them, no doubt. And part of that is paying for the hospital care and medical treatment that will be coming down the road. No doubt those bills will add up, and the Amish generally do not carry commercial insurance, for religious reasons.

To that end, members of the non-Amish community have been trying to help out. For one, area businesses have been collecting donations:

To help the victims’ families with medical costs and travel expenses, Slocum’s Store, Spartansburg Pharmacy, Ashley’s Pub, Country Cupboard and other Spartansburg businesses are putting out donation jars.

But if you’re not local and want to help out, they have now got that covered as well:

In addition, Bova has started a GoFundMe online. She said checks can also be mailed out to her or Bova’s Hardware Store at 307 Main Street, and the money will be put in a separate account to be sent to the families impacted.

The GoFundMe can be accessed here, or embedded in this post below. Bova notes in the GoFundMe:

I have spoken with the families and they have authorized me to set up this gofundme on their behalf. All funds will be distributed directly to the families of these girls to help cover medical costs and traveling expenses. Thank you for your support!

She also adds or rather confirms the cause of the fire, that “a can of gasoline was accidentally used to start a wood stove fire instead of kerosene, the intended fuel.”

You can tell that the Amish are well-loved and appreciated by their non-Amish neighbors here. “Without the Amish, I wouldn’t be here. They’re our main customer, and our main community,” said the owner of Slocum’s.

Kelsey Bova also put what’s ahead in perspective:

“Both of the families are going to need a lot of help because this is going to be hundreds of thousands of dollars probably,” said Bova.

“No matter what your religion is or beliefs or anything, these are just little kids, and they all are in so much pain, and it is going to be such a long journey, and I think it’s important for humanity as a whole to support the people that need supporting.”

Bova says that the six-year-old girl has a birthday this week. So they are accepting birthday cards at Bova’s Hardware for her. She also says that both families want to express their thanks to people.

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