Double Trouble: Two School Buses Involved In Separate Crashes Here

Managing Editor/Publisher

First responders in Ulysses may have thought they were seeing double last Tuesday, October 1, when two back-to-back calls were eeriy similiar.

Ulysses Police Chief Ron Vagher said his office received the first call at approximately 2:35 p.m.

"We were notified of a two-vehicle accident at Colorado Street and Oklahoma Avenue," Vagher said. "The accident involved a (school) activity bus from Hugoton with approximately 30 passengers on board and a passenger vehicle with two people in it."

The passenger vehicle was a "sport utility" type vehicle, according to Vagher, who said there were some minor injuries from the crash.

"There was one passenger with minor injuries on the bus," he said. "The passenger was evaluated and released on the scene by Grant County EMS. Both occupants of the passenger vehicle were transported to Bob Wilson Memorial Hospital in Ulysses with minor injuries."

Vagher said the activity bus was traveling northbound on Colorado Street when the crash occurred.

"The passenger vehicle was traveling southbound on Colorado Street and was attempting to make a left-hand turn to go East on Oklahoma," Vagher said, adding that the driver of the passenger vehicle failed to yield to the bus.

Officers were on the scene for "not quite an hour", when another call came through, less than a mile away from the first call, which had the ring of dejavu.

"At approximately 3:23 p.m., we were notified of another two-vehicle accident at Oklahoma Avenue and Stubbs Road," Vagher said. "It involved a (school) activity bus from Syracuse and a passenger vehicle."

Vagher said the Syracuse bus had 28 passengers and there was one passenger in the other vehicle - a white Yukon.

"Three of the passengers on the bus were evaluated by Grant County EMS," Vagher said. "One of those passengers was released at the scene - the other two were transported to Bob Wilson Memorial Hospital with minor injuries."

The driver of the Yukon was evaluated and released at the scene.

Through their investigation of this crash, Vagher said the bus was eastbound on Oklahoma Avenue and the Yukon was northbound on Stubbs Road. Once again, the driver of the passenger vehicle failed to yield to the bus.

Traffic on Colorado Street was rerouted for awhile. The scene was cleared at 4:43 p.m.