Wahluke school bus involved in collision near Mattawa

MATTAWA — Thirteen students and one Mattawa resident were injured Monday around 3:30 p.m. in a collision between a Wahluke school bus and a pickup truck on Road O Southwest near Mattawa, according to a Grant County Sheriff’s Office statement. None of the injuries were life-threatening. 

GCSO Public Information Officer Kyle Foreman said the driver of the 2001 Dodge Dakota pickup, 48-year-old Jose Ramirez of Mattawa, was taken to Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland, but the injuries are not believed to be life-threatening. 

“The students that were transported were divided up between two hospitals, Foreman said. “Their injuries were bumps, bruises, cuts, nothing life-threatening and nothing terribly serious.”

The hospitals were Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland and Trios Southridge Hospital in Kennewick, according to the statement, All 17 students on the bus, kindergarten through eighth grade, and the bus driver, 40-year-old Marco Bravo Guerrero of Desert Aire, were examined by EMTs at the scene. Four students were released to their caregivers, and Guerrero declined further treatment. 

According to the GCSO statement, the bus was traveling south on Road O Southwest and the Dodge was traveling west on Road 27 Southwest when the Dodge failed to stop at the stop sign and struck the bus on the driver’s side, causing the bus to roll onto its side.

“As of right now, the deputy has not indicated that there are any charges. Once the driver of the pickup truck can be interviewed then we can make some decisions, but there's nothing suspicious about the collision right now,” Foreman said. “Visibility was very poor, it was very foggy, and the incident happened at an intersection where it was pretty dark. So right now,  there's nothing anticipated.”

The statement said that low visibility due to extreme fog is suspected to have played a role in this collision.

“The roads were slick because the fog was freezing on the pavement, so we did have that,” Foreman said. “We were having a difficult time finding a tow service to remove the bus and that was simply because of all the tractor-trailer crashes that had happened in Grant County throughout the day in other places. We couldn't get one so it took several hours to get the bus out of there.”

The incident’s response was a coordinated effort between the Multi-Agency Communications Center 911 Dispatch, Mattawa Police Department, Grant County Fire District 8, Royal Slope Fire Rescue Emergency Medical Services, Protection-1 Emergency Medical Services, Hanford Fire Department, Wahluke School District and GCSO, according to the statement.

“One of the first steps was that the incident commander announced that it was a mass casualty incident and then requested ambulances from Royal Slope, Protection-1, Hanford,” Foreman said. “So he had his resource order in early which helped get the injured to hospitals sooner.”

Foreman also provided some advice on drivers tackling foggy conditions. 

“When driving in the fog, first make sure you have your headlights on, make sure your wipers are in good shape to clear your windshield, but also drive slower,” Foreman said. 

Given the circumstances, the incident could have been much worse. 

“We're just grateful that nobody was seriously injured, and we're hoping that the students, as well as the driver of the pickup, recover quickly, and the bus driver (too).”

Gabriel Davis may be reached at gdavis@columbiabasinherald.com. Download the Columbia Basin Herald app on iOS and Android.