Honda Accord wrecks into school bus in front of Burger Claim in Grand Mound. / Courtesy photo
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
A 17-year-old boy was safely removed out the back window of his car by medics yesterday following a rear-end collision in Grand Mound that left the back bumper of a school bus on his steering wheel.
Firefighters called at 3:47 p.m. to Old Highway 99 near 203rd Avenue Southwest found the Honda Accord’s windshield smashed and its front end buried beneath the bus, according to responders.
West Thurston Regional Fire Authority Lt. Isaac Garza said it was the kind of ugly wreckage and entrapment that when they rolled up, they just knew was going to be serious. But it wasn’t.
Garza said he thought the bus was either carrying no students or they were all okay; he was focused on caring for the teen in the Honda, he said.
“The driver of the car was actually fine too, we took him to Centralia for precautionary measures,” Garza said. “He had a laceration to his face, but ended up walking away.”
Both were northbound in front of the Burger Claim restaurant, according to Thurston County Sheriff’s Office .
A spokesperson for the sheriff’s office said he didn’t have a written report yet on the incident, but preliminary information was the kids on the bus seemed to be fine.
At around the same time in Centralia, a Toyota pickup with no working brakes ran into the back of a school bus on West Reynolds Avenue near Blair Road.
The bus had stopped at a railroad crossing, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.
A deputy responding to the approximately 3:20 p.m. collision reported two children on the bus complained of headaches and aid was called to treat them, Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown said.
The pickup truck’s driver, 52-year-old Mark Christensen, of Rochester, admitted he knew his brakes weren’t functional and was arrested and booked into jail for reckless driving, according to Brown.
Both vehicles were drivable, Brown said.
Riverside Fire Authority Firefighter-paramedic Jennifer Ternan said they were dispatched at 3:49 p.m. to the scene, but when they arrived, the bus had been moved to a parking lot off Lum Road and the school district told them they were handling it.
Firefighters were told there were no injuries, she said.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter