A shuttle bus crashed into a guard rail on the way into O'Hare Airport, hurting 15 people and snarling traffic on one of the busiest travel days of the year. View Full Caption Courtesy Tom Tingle Sports

O'HARE — In a bit of good luck, two veteran firefighters were traveling 5 feet away from a bus that crashed near O'Hare Airport Friday morning.

And in a bit of even better luck, one of them had a hammer in his car that he used to smash his way into the bus to help the injured driver.

"It's kind of funny what firemen keep in their cars," firefighter Robert Gembala said, referring to the hammer that colleague Rory Williams used to rescue the driver. "I'm a former hazmat guy, and I keep a hazmat book in there in case there's a hazmat on the side of the road."

Gembala and Williams, who both work out of the firehouse at O'Hare, jumped into action when they witnessed the crash, with Gembala jumping on board the bus to help injured passengers while Williams tended to the driver.

The shuttle bus was headed westbound into the terminal on Interstate 190 around 6:30 a.m. when it struck a concrete barrier, injuring 15 people, according to Officer Ana Pacheco, a Chicago Police Department spokeswoman.

As a result, those driving to O'Hare Airport on one of the busiest travel days of the year were stuck in traffic.

Travelers desperate to get to their flights got out of their cars and cabs and started walking to the airport, clogging up the shoulders of the highway leading into O'Hare. All lanes were shut down after the crash. By 8 a.m. lanes were reopened, but traffic was still creeping along.

At one point, firefighters rushing from outside O'Hare got delayed en route to the victims because of the travelers walking on the highway shoulders, Chicago Fire Department Chief Tim Sampey said.

Travelers "were basically bailing out of their cars to get to their flights," he said.

Gembala, who has worked as a firefighter for over 15 years and now works in the district that includes O'Hare as a training officer, described witnessing the accident as "surreal."

"They were just on their way to catch a plane to go somewhere, and obviously there were a lot of couples and family members together," Gembala said. "They were making sure they took care of each other."

Fire Department spokesman Juan Hernandez said 15 people were hurt. Four people were taken to hospitals in serious to critical condition, five in fair condition and four in good condition. Two people refused medical attention at the scene, Hernandez said.

The injured were taken to Our Lady of the Resurrection Medical Center, Swedish Covenant Hospital, Lutheran General Hospital and Loyola University Medical Center, Hernandez said.

"It was a pretty hard stop for them, so a lot of people were banging into the seats in front of them," Gembala said.

"People were thrown around the bus," injuring the people at the front the worst, Sampey told reporters at the scene.

Steve Siavelis, one of the firefighters who was called to the scene by Gembala and Williams, said the victims were all in "good spirits."

"Believe it or not, they wanted to know where their luggage was at," Siavelis said.

Williams suffered from a minor injury and was also sent to the hospital, but he's doing well, Sampey said.

"That's his job," Sampey said, adding that Williams did not want media attention.

Gembala said he hasn't been the first on the scene of an accident this large before. But he said he and Williams' efficiency in responding to this accident is proof that his training works.

"One of them was in their own vehicle coming to work, which is great," Siavelis said. "That’s where training kicks in."

#ohare. Unmarked police cars and ambulances mixed with folks walking to the terminal pic.twitter.com/YTOPyCyPCp — beskeie (@beskeie) August 29, 2014

So there was a bus crash at ohare. Welcome walkers pic.twitter.com/49vnAGPHKq — Jennifer (@mrmdsx) August 29, 2014

Friday is the busiest travel day of Labor Day weekend, with 225,000 passengers traveling to O'Hare, according to NBC5.

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