Driver in stable condition after run-in with school bus

WASILLA -- A 17-year-old boy was listed in stable condition and nine students were treated at Valley Hospital Friday afternoon after the car the teen was driving collided with a school bus on its route from Teeland Middle School.

Trooper Nathan Bucknall said Friday he planned to investigate the scene after the injured had been removed and was not sure of any details.

Bucknall said the bus driver, 43-year-old Devona Wilcox, was cited for failure to yield after she apparently crossed Seldon Road in front of the teen-ager, who was driving a light blue 1980s model Pontiac 6000. Bucknall said students on the bus and the driver said the Pontiac driver was speeding, but in the officer's estimation, the skid marks prior to the impact did not indicate high speeds.

"It may have been just a high volume of traffic," Bucknall said.

Bucknall said most of the students on the bus who experienced injuries were seated on the driver's side of the bus. The impact, he guessed, may have thrown them out of their seats.

Incident Commander Michael Keenan said the firemen and emergency medical technicians responding to the scene had to use "Jaws of Life" tools to remove the teen from the damaged car. Keenan said the driver's door was pinned shut and the dashboard and steering column were pressed into the boy's lap. The extraction, Keenan said, was completed in 26 minutes from the time the call was received, a credit to the borough's stepped-up on-call emergency response program.

"The first ambulance was out the door in less than a minute," Keenan said. "We had people on location very quickly."

Thirty-seven students were on the bus, Bucknall said, and most were released by Teeland principal Larry Jacobson and transferred to a second bus to continue their route home after their parents were called to notify them of the reason for their delay. Some of those students, according to Keenan, were sent home with ice packs for minor bumps or bruises.

Nine students were taken to Valley Hospital for further examination. Of those, three were taken on backboards, Keenan said. Valley Hospital spokesman Elizabeth Ripley said general information about the students treated at the hospital could not be released without their individual names.

David Dickson, with First Student, said more research will be done by the transportation service company to determine if further action needs to be taken.

"There's a committee that does investigations," Dickson said, "and we'll determine from there exactly what actions need to be taken."

Dickson said it was very unusual for students to be injured in a bus accident.

"We've had some serious accidents in the past, and none have been injured," Dickson said. "It's pretty rare."