BY JACOB JONES
The Daily World
Friday, May 14, 2010 2:10 PM PDT
MACLEOD PAPPIDAS | THE DAILY WORLD A Grays Harbor Transit bus is parked after a collision with a tractor trailer at the corner of Heron and H Streets in Aberdeen secaused it to strike a building Friday morning where it destroyed a stairwell on the building's side.
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Investigators believe a tractor-trailer drove through a flashing red light and crashed into a Grays Harbor Transit bus in downtown Aberdeen this morning, sending the bus into the side of the historic Olympic Candy Co. building.
Aberdeen Police Capt. John Green said the vehicles collided at about 5:30 a.m. at the corner of Heron and H and noted that, at that time of the morning, traffic lights are still flashing red and yellow.
Medical crews said the transit driver, later identified as Ardith Christensen of Aberdeen, and one passenger were taken to Grays Harbor Community Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Authorities reported Christensen may have a broken arm, but both have been released.
“I think they’re both very fortunate,” said Bill Mayne, a battalion chief with the Aberdeen Fire Department.
Mayne said a second passenger was reportedly on the bus when it crashed, but quickly left the scene, apparently unharmed.
The bus crashed into the building and came to rest in a gravel lot with its windows smashed and pieces of the building hanging off of it. The badly damaged semi-truck blocked much of the road, leaking fluids into the street.
A gaping hole sat dark in the side of the 104-year-old Olympic Candy Co. building. Police and utility workers scrambled nearby to clear the area and manage the morning traffic.
Green said the State Patrol commercial vehicle division is assisting in the investigation to determine fault. Preliminary evidence indicates the tractor-trailer failed to yield the right of way.
Police identified the truck driver as Michael Barrett of Delaware. He was hauling a load of Styrofoam cups this morning.
Mark Carlin, general manager of Grays Harbor Transit, said the bus driver was recovering. He said she has driven with Grays Harbor Transit for more than 25 years.
“She’s a longtime employee,” he said of Christensen. “She has an outstanding driving record.”
Carlin said transit buses have six onboard cameras. Two cover the passengers, two cover the exterior sides of the bus, one watches the door and another looks out the front windshield, he said. Transit officials plan to review the footage later today.
“We have a view from about every angle,” he said, “so we should get a pretty good idea of what happened.”
Krister Lile, who rents space upstairs in the Olympic Candy building, stood in the parking lot in amazement. The bus went through the side wall, damaging the stairs up to his space.
“I thought of so many things that could happen to this building,” he said. “It could catch fire or the roof could go out during a rain storm. I didn’t expect a bus to go through my stairwell.”
Green said investigators will also be looking into why it took so long for the bus to stop, whether the driver’s foot became stuck or some other explanation.
Insurance adjusters had already responded to the site. Green said they offered rough estimates of $50,000 in damage to the bus, $20,000 to the building and the tractor-trailer was expected to be a total loss.
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