KINGFIELD — Two drivers were injured when three vehicles slid on icy Route 142 on Thursday morning and struck a school bus carrying elementary school pupils, Franklin County Sheriff Scott Nichols Sr. said.

Erica Bracy, 39, of Freeman Township and Brian Leblanc, 32, of Salem Township were taken to local hospitals for treatment, Nichols said in a news release.

None of the eight schoolchildren, who were being driven from unorganized territories to Kingfield Elementary School, were injured in the 7:40 a.m. crash, Nichols said.

Judi Hawkins, 55, of Cumberland lost control of her westbound 2007 Toyota Avalon, which struck the eastbound International school bus operated by Debra Johnson, 62, of Kingfield traveling east, the sheriff said. 

“As the vehicles approached each other, the driver of the Avalon lost control on the ice, skidded into the right-side snowbank which then propelled the vehicle across the road into the front of the school bus causing both to collide head-on,” Nichols wrote. 

Bracy’s 2006 Dodge Durango was following the bus and stopped without hitting it, but Leblanc’s 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe hit Bracy’s vehicle from behind, propelling both of them into the back of the bus, Nichols said.

A 2015 Jeep Cherokee driven by Donna Chase, 63, of Kingfield was behind Leblanc and avoided a collision by steering left and getting hung up on a snowbank, Nichols wrote.

“All students, although shaken and with a few bumps, are OK and the driver is also not injured,” SAD 58 Superintendent Susan Pratt said. 

All parents were called and two school nurses were available to assist students when they arrived at school.  
 
“We are fortunate in some way that many staff were immediately on scene because they were headed for work with all staff greatly assisting in dealing with the situation,” Pratt said. 
 
The unorganized territory bus received extensive damage, so a bus from School Administrative District 58 took the children to Kingfield. Three wreckers hauled vehicles away.
 
dperry@sunjournal.com


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