COAL TOWNSHIP - The bus driver and students aboard a Shamokin Area School District bus involved in an accident involving power lines last week were commended Tuesday for their actions at the scene.
Certificates were presented at the start of Tuesday's school board meeting by district administrators to Dawn Carsto, driver of Bus 27, and several of the 34 students who were aboard the bus when live electrical wires fell atop it as they traveled along Route 61 near Split Vein Coal Co. on May 10.
Superintendent James Zack said during the presentation that after having reviewed the bus's surveillance camera footage, behavior by Carsto and the students was "calm and remarkable."
Carsto said the children were "a little freaky" initially but behaved responsibly as the emergency unfolded. She gave a nod to the older students on the bus who "huddled" the younger students roadside.
Carsto credited occasional drills prepping students for accidents with influencing their behavior during the emergency.
"Because they did everything they were supposed to do, things turned out really well," she said.
A raised dump truck bed snagged the wires and snapped a utility pole at its base, causing the wires to fall across all four lanes of the highway and the front of the bus.
The students were evacuated from the bus after power was turned off to the lines, according to reports.
A light rain turned to a heavy rain, with hail, at about the time of the accident, and the highway was wet.
Students were placed inside police cruisers, ambulances and other emergency response vehicles to get them out of the weather, although the rain didn't last long.
No serious injuries were reported.