Construction team rushed to help 5 hurt in rollover SUV crash in rural DeKalb County

When an SUV rolled multiple times, injuring five people in a two-car crash on July 7 in DeKalb County, a group of construction workers rushed to the crash site to help.

When an SUV rolled multiple times, injuring five people in a two-car crash on July 7 in DeKalb County , a group of construction workers rushed to the crash site to help. Laurie Ostrum, a safety manager for Danville-based Schomburg & Schomburg Construction, told Shaw Local that the company had a team of workers on a site “in close proximity to the crash,” at the intersection of Route 72 and Pleasant Hill Road. “Our solar team were the first ones on the scene and aided fire and rescue to save these individuals,” Ostrum wrote in an email.

DeKalb County Sheriff Andy Sullivan confirmed that a group of people who helped at the crash site weren’t first responders. A Davis Junction woman, 52, driving a silver Chevrolet Suburban and four passengers inside, including a 64-year-old woman, were hurt when their vehicle was struck by a white GMC Traverse, according to a news release from Sullivan’s office. The Suburban, which was traveling along Route 72, was hit in the rear driver’s side, causing it to roll over multiple times, authorities wrote.

The driver of the Traverse, a Roscoe woman, was not injured in the crash, but was cited by the Sheriff’s Office for disobeying a stop sign. She had been traveling south on Pleasant Hill Road, according to the news release. One of the 11 solar construction site workers who responded to the crash was a former flight nurse, Ostrum wrote.

She said that the Schomburg & Schomburg Construction removed doors and seats to pull people from the wrecked vehicles. Sullivan said a deputy who responded to the scene said he didn’t observe those actions, but didn’t dispute Ostrom’s account. Schomburg & Schomburg Construction CEO Julie Buesing and Butch Buesing, vice president, plan on joining Ostrum in honoring the team’s efforts on Wednesday.

“Most importantly, I just wanted to congratulate and celebrate our Schomburg members doing the right thing and reacting as soon as possible to help those in need,” Ostrum wrote. Sullivan agreed. “It sounds like it’s well deserved,” Sullivan said of the congratulations