Bus Full Of Workers Rams Into Vacant Hair Salon

Receiving a phone call saying a bus has crashed through your business is not how someone wants to start their work day.

That, however, was the exact call Sonja Hyre got at 6:30 a.m., Wednesday in reference to her salon, Creative Hair Designs.

"I thought I was dreaming," Hyre said.

She and her husband headed down to the North Main Avenue shop to survey the damage. What Hyre saw was "like a picture out of Universal Studios."

"The lights were still blinking, the cab was inside my salon (and) all the furniture was pushed three quarters of the way through the salon," Hyre said.

The crash happened when the driver of a school bus carrying migrant workers suffered a heart attack, lost control and hit the store, according to Hyre.

"They tried to revive him twice," Hyre said.

Lake Placid Police Sgt. Mark Schneider said the victim, Joel Godinez, 38, of Lake Placid, has been sent to the medical examiner's office to determine an exact cause of death, adding that he does not know at this time if it was a heart attack.

Schneider said Godinez was driving a 1989 Ford bus full of migrant workers at the time of the accident, which occurred at 6:15 a.m. No other injuries were reported.

Bill Brantley, a friend of Hyre's, said there were 20 others on the bus who "took off running" after the crash.

Brantley was on the scene early Wednesday morning and helped out where he could.

"We ordered a Dumpster and started cleaning up," he said.

Brantley and five others began the process at 8. By 9:30, the store was cleaned, boarded up and ready for business.

Hyre opened the salon at 10 a.m., an hour behind schedule. Shortly before 11:30, there were six customers waiting and an insurance representative taking estimates.

The wall was decorated with drapes and sheets to keep the salon motif as intact as possible, despite the damage.

Hyre said she will be having three estimates done and expects to be working under the present circumstances for some time. Business, however, will proceed as normal.

"Not even a bus will stop us from making ladies beautiful," she said.