A Clearview School Division bus driver was charged while two students sustained minor injuries after the bus collided with a pickup truck just northwest of Gadsby last Friday afternoon.
“Whenever one of our buses is involved with a crash, we investigate it and deal with it appropriately,” said Clearview superintendent John Bailey.
“We take it very seriously and we work with police.”
He said 13 students were on board. Stettler RCMP reported that two of them were taken to the Stettler hospital by ambulance with minor injuries after the 3:15 p.m. collision.
Police charged a 60-year-old Botha man, the driver of the school bus, with failing to yield properly before proceeding into the intersection. He wasn’t injured, RCMP reported.
Bailey said the school board would determine the employment status of the driver, but declined further comment “for confidentiality reasons.”
The Stettler man, 45, who was driving the pickup suffered minor injuries and was treated on the scene and released, police said.
The crash caused “minor damage” to the rear of the school bus, Bailey said.
“The school bus was northbound on Range Road 39-2 when it came to the intersection of Range Road 39-2 and Township Road 17-4,” said Stettler RCMP Const. William Lewadniuk.
“The school bus slowed down as it came to a yield sign and then proceeded through the intersection and collided with a pickup truck travelling westbound on the township road.”
Firefighters disconnected the batteries in both vehicles “and both were cleared to leave the scene as neither vehicle posed a fire hazard,” said Amanda Spensley of the Stettler Regional Fire Department
“Investigation revealed that weather was not a factor at the time of the collision,” said Const. Lewadniuk.
Snowmobiling fatality
At about 4:40 p.m. Saturday, members of the Killam/Forestburg RCMP detachment, along with fire crews and Emergency Medical Services, responded to a single-vehicle snowmobile collision in a field adjacent to Township Road 450, north of Sedgewick.
Sheldon Kobsar, 54, of Sedgewick died as a result of the collision, RCMP reported.
“He had been wearing a helmet at the time. Investigation revealed that Kobsar had been operating the snowmobile eastbound in the field when he hit a snowdrift and rolled. Speed and alcohol do not appear to have been factors in this collision.”
Stettler chimney fire
Last Saturday, Stettler Regional Fire Department responded to a minor chimney fire in a garage on 51 Avenue in Stettler.
“When firefighters arrived at 4:15 p.m., they discovered a chimney in a detached garage had suffered fire damage, but no flames were showing at the time,” Spensley said.
“Water was sprayed down the chimney as a precautionary measure, as damage was minimal to the structure and no one was injured.
“Cause of the fire is under investigation.”