As the school bus took a curve across the road, William Lombardo, president of treecrews.com and Risk Management Tree Services, and a small crew of employees were about to leave for a tornado cleanup job in Roswell.

"We heard a loud noise and all of the sudden, the bus was sliding sideways," he said.

John Spink /AJC (ENLARGE)

William Lombardo, president of Risk Management Disaster Services, talks on his phone after he and his employees assisted the students of Monday morning's bus crash.

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They heard the bus slam into one utility poll and then knock over the second, sliding on its side and dragging down power lines in the empty lot. As the bus slid, the crew started racing down the road to the crash.

"We were screaming more than the kids," said Lombardo, who made the call to 911.

Lombardo and his crew turned out to be the first responders to the Cherokee County bus wreck Monday morning that sent 27 students and the driver to area hospitals.

Lombardo said at first they didn't know if the bus was empty or if there were students inside. Then, he said, "people started coming out. That was my worst fear. That's what was upsetting."

When they arrived on the scene, perhaps 100 yards away, students on the bus were on cell phones and beginning to try to climb out of the right side of the bus, now facing skyward.

Lombardo said he and his employees surrounded the bus and directed students away from the downed power lines that were underneath the vehicle. They were herded into one spot so they could be accounted for.

"I just looked at them like they were my own kids," said Lombardo, 40, who minutes before had just dropped his own children off at school. "We all looked at those children as if they were our own."

As students climbed out of the bus, a manager, Mark Schovel, opened up the bus' rear emergency exit and climbed in. Towards the back of the bus, one student, a boy, was unconscious. Schovel woke him up, and the boy asked for his mother to hold him, Lombardo said.

Schovel held his hand and asked him questions to keep him conscious, Lombardo said.

"The kid would come in and out," Lombardo said. "His eyes would roll back."

Authorities said one child who lost consciousness was airlifted to Atlanta Medical Center. No update on the student's condition was issued by early afternoon, but none of the students' injuries was life-threatening, officials said. Some were taken to hospitals only as a precaution.

Lombardo described the students as disoriented and visibly upset, "but together. There was collaboration."

Lombardo acknowledged the serendipity in his company being close to the scene. Lombardo said he has been responding to federal natural disasters since 1979. His company was responsible for managing 400 square miles of Louisiana coast after Hurricane Katrina.

"We were responsive, not reactive," he said. "Our hearts go out to the parents. It was a privilege to help them."