An early morning New Year’s Day house fire and a traffic accident involving a Farmersville ISD bus kicked off 2023 for the fire and police departments.

The house fire on the 500 block of Candy Street was reported at 4:45 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 1 by a routine police patrol after smoke was seen escaping from the home’s roof.

In addition to Farmersville FD, fire units from Princeton, Nevada, Josephine and Lavon responded.

According to reports, the cause of the fire was electrical and began in the attic, then spread to an attached room at the back of the house and the kitchen area.

A resident was home, awakened by police and fire personnel and escaped the house unharmed.

Fire Chief Greg Massey underscored the value of smoke alarms in all residences.

“I continue to stress the importance of smoke detectors,” Massey said. “This could have been a life lost as no working smoke detectors were found inside the house.”

On the afternoon of Wednesday, Jan. 4, a Farmersville ISD bus was reportedly rear-ended by a half-ton truck.

The accident involved 44 children, the bus driver and the driver of the truck.

In all, nine children and one of the adults was transported for medical attention.

The accident required mutual aid from several departments including four ambulances from Hunt County EMS, nine Farmersville FD personnel, Princeton FD, Farmersville, Farmersville ISD and Bland ISD police departments, Collin County Sheriff Jim Skinner and Department of Public Safety troopers.

DPS is the lead investigator in the accident.

Massey said the fire department responded to 44 calls in the first eight days of the new year.

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