School Bus Struck by Pick-up Head-On

Anchorage Fire Department responded to a head-on collision between a pick-up truck and a school bus returning from a field trip late Saturday evening April 21, 2007.  The cause of the accident remains under investigation by Anchorage Police.

The first 911 calls were answered at 10:19 p.m. with multiple callers reporting a full size pick-up truck that was southbound on the Seward Highway and had crossed the median colliding head-on with a school bus.  The accident occurred approximately ¼ mile north of the Huffman interchange in the northbound lanes.  The force of the impact was so severe the front of the truck was compacted back into the passenger compartment, ejecting the driver. After the collision, the bus veered off the roadway into the ditch adjacent to Brayton Dr. and was tilting precariously on the embankment.  All bus passengers, except the driver, were able to exit the bus through emergency exits.

Ten units with the Anchorage Fire Department were initially dispatched to the scene and first arriving units from the Huffman Fire Station began to triage the scene determining the number of injuries.  Several rescue operations were undertaken immediately, the ejected patient, bracing to ensure the bus was stabilized while accessing and treating the driver, and triage of the bus passengers.  Three additional AFD units were dispatched to assist with the accident scene.  The driver of the pick-up was transported to a local area hospital but suffered injuries not sustainable with life.  The bus driver and three students were also transported to local hospitals.  Fire Department officials attribute the low number of injuries to the bus remaining upright.

The Laidlaw School Bus was carrying 20 Snowshoe Elementary School students, plus seven adult chaperones from the Palmer area, returning from a field trip to the Center of Alaska Coastal Studies located in Homer.

As news of the accident spread by calls made from accident victims to their loved ones, some family members traveled to the scene to take their children home.  Laidlaw dispatched another bus which arrived on scene just after 12:30 a.m. to transport the remaining children and chaperones home to Palmer.  

Northbound and southbound lanes of the Seward Highway were closed while APD conducted their investigation.  Traffic was rerouted onto Brayton Dr. and the Old Seward Highway.