Jeff Stauring, on behalf of District School Board of Collier County Public Schools, arranged to donate a used school bus to the East Naples Fire Department. The bus was sunk by the East Naples Fire & Rescue Department into 30 feet of water at Lake Avalon in Sugden Park. The purpose of the exercise was to use the sunken bus as a training site for fire department dive teams. The teams will practice underwater search and rescue drills in the sunken bus.

Collier County roads are interspersed with miles of canals. Captain Sean Hunt and Director Jeff Stauring agreed that it only made sense to train the emergency rescue teams in underwater search and rescue using a school bus. Owing to the low visibility as well as a number of other risks involved, underwater rescue can be a difficult task and training significantly helps to prepare if that situation happens. Rescue personnel need to be well-trained and they should be prepared for any kind of problem while underwater.

Jeff Stauring coordinated the donation transfer process and directed his fleet personnel to remove the engine and transmission to get the bus ready for the exercise. The bus was donated to the fire department after it had been de-commissioned. The ENFD further prepared the school bus to ensure that it would not harm the environment while it was underwater. Submerging the bus in the water was an difficult task but everything went as planned and now the bus lies at the bottom of the lake to be used for dive practice by fire department professionals. Rescue personnel from all over the country might also be interested in using the site. The East Naples Fire Department as well as The District School Board of Collier County recognized Jeff Stauring for his support.

The school bus is shown on the following website: http://blogs.schoolbusfleet.com/AlongForTheRide/archive/2009/03/30/Where-do-our-old-school-buses-go.aspx

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