Bowling Green Mayor Mike Aspacher expressed his appreciation for the assistance of Bowling Green City Schools staff after a fire broke out at an apartment building recently.

Aspacher spoke during Tuesday’s regular board meeting.

He said the fire occurred several weeks ago, and while the Bowling Green Fire Division responded, assessed the situation and were able to extinguish the fire. It was a dangerous situation due to the large amount of smoke that was generated, Aspacher said.

It was quickly determined that the building’s more than 40 residents would have to be evacuated. Many, he said, had mobility issues that made it difficult to evacuate them safely.

The Red Cross established a shelter at the community center for the evacuees, Aspacher said, but the issue became how to transport them to the shelter.

He said that the district’s Transportation Director Toby Snow and his staff played a critical role.

“I cannot speak more highly of the immediate response from Mr. Snow and his staff,” Aspacher said. “When contacted, the response was very clear and immediate: ‘What do you need, what can I do to help?’”

Aspacher said Snow and several of his drivers responded to the scene with handicapped-accessible vans and transported the residents to the community center.

“That in and of itself was just an amazing community response,” but Snow took it a step further, Aspacher said.

As evening fell, he and the drivers returned to the community center and transported the residents back to their homes.

“I just want to express my very, very sincere thanks to Toby and your staff for your immediate and very needed response,” Aspacher said. “This is just another example of what makes Bowling Green just a really, really terrific place to live. … This represented Bowling Green as a community, but I think Toby’s response, so quick response, it reflected a culture that exists in the school district.”