The scary account of a Meeker school bus hit by downed power lines is the focus of a new safety video online. Thankfully, the account is an example of all the things those in the situation did right so no one was hurt in the incident. During a heavy spring snow storm, bus driver and Meeker FFA Advisor Clint Schultz was taking a busload of students to a FFA competition when a powerline was downed and the school bus caught the grounded wire. “We knew we were in big trouble,” says Schultz. “We started dragging the power lines. I didn’t hit the breaks because I didn’t know if I had a charge from the lines.” A call was made to emergency personnel and emergency crews as well as utility workers from White River Electric came immediately. “This was the ultimate nightmare for utility people, especially being a bus of school children,” says Frank Sampson of White River Electric. Thankfully, utility crews freed the bus and the kids made it to their competition but it could have been a deadly situation. The video emphasizes the following steps if anyone experiences a similar situation. Stay calm and stay inside the vehicle. Call 911. Warn others to stay away from the vehicle. Stay seated and don’t exit until utility personnel says it’s okay. Only if the vehicle is on fire should you exit by jumping away from the vehicle with feet together and hop away.
