By Canadian Press

Firefighter chased school bus that hit tree in Red Deer, Alta; driver charged

Jun 7, 2017 | 2:00 PM

RED DEER, Alta. — Kurt Stenberg was unbuckling his daughter from her car seat outside their house earlier this week when he heard a crash.

On the other side of the street, he saw a school bus that had driven over the sidewalk, hit a tree and knocked over a speed-limit sign.

When the bus kept on moving, Stenberg knew he had to spring into action.

“It was just too shocking to see a bus crash right behind us and not pull over,” the firefighter and emergency medical technician from Red Deer, Alta., said in an interview Wednesday.

“You would think someone would pull over.”

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RCMP say the bus driver, 42-year-old Shelly Joy Kolodychuk, is facing impaired driving and dangerous driving charges. She is scheduled to appear in court July 12.

No one was injured, including children between five and 12 years old on the bus.

After the accident, Stenberg ran onto the street and tried to flag down the driver, but the bus made a left-hand turn at the end of the street.

He and his daughter Kate, who is almost four, jumped back into his truck. Kate had just recently learned how to buckle her own seat belt and, once she was strapped in, Stenberg went after the bus.

He found it pulled over nearby and talked to the driver, who he thought might be having a medical emergency.

He pulled his truck in front of the bus so the driver couldn’t move forward. Shortly after, Stenberg’s wife, just off her shift as an ER nurse, arrived still in her scrubs and parked her truck behind the bus so it was blocked in.

Eventually they were able to get the driver out of the bus.

“She took a few steps down. She was very uneasy on her feet and seemed a bit confused and drowsy and slow to respond.”  

Stenberg called 911 and waited for police, ambulance and the fire department to arrive.

Meanwhile, he got onto the bus and applied the air brake, took out the key and asked the kids what happened.

“They were very spooked … eyes wide open and asking what had happened.”

Some of the kids told him they loved their bus driver. He explained that she wasn’t feeling well and tried to keep them calm.

Some parents started arriving to pick up their children.

He said he approached the situation without judgment.

“We treated her with kindness and were concerned for her mental well-being at the time,” Stenberg said.

“We weren’t assuming she was intoxicated or anything.”

The bus company said Kolodychuk has been dismissed.

“Prairie Bus Lines has a zero-tolerance drug and alcohol policy in place,” it said in a release Monday.

The policy includes testing when there is reasonable suspicion that an employee is under the influence. In this case, the company said there were no visible signs the driver was impaired before to her afternoon shift.

“Student safety is paramount to our organization. We are grateful nobody was injured and that a rescue driver was able to take the children home safely in a timely manner.”

— By Lauren Krugel in Calgary

The Canadian Press

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