UPDATED: Hospital sets up command center after 1 dies in Shasta County bus crash
8:35 AM, Nov 23, 2014
5 hours ago
POLLARD FLAT, Calif. - A bus crash on Interstate 5 in northern Shasta County on Sunday morning killed a 33-year-old man and sent almost everyone else on board to nearby hospitals, and forced a road-closure for hours as emergency and law-enforcement crews from virtually every agency in the area dealt with the aftermath.
Investigators think fatigued driving might be to blame for the crash, since it was the second one that morning involving that bus. It slammed into a Denny's restaurant in Red Bluff earlier in the day in Red Bluff, said California Highway Patrol officer Jeff Borgen. No one was injured in the Red Bluff Crash, the CHP said.
There also was some physical evidence at the rollover crash just off Interstate 5 in Pollard Flat to indicate sleepiness might have caused it, Borgen said, though the incident is still being investigated.
The driver was identified as Jose Victor Garcilazo Palencia, 67, of Los Angeles.
The bus was traveling from Los Angeles to Pasco, Wash. and crashed about 7:40 a.m., according to the CHP. It went from northbound I-5 down an embankment, overturning onto its roof on the side of Eagles Roost Road, a frontage road in the small northern Shasta County community of Pollard Flat.
Multiple law enforcement and emergency agencies responded to the incident, including helicopters, a multi-agency disaster crew and more.
Victims wrapped in large gray blankets were escorted into emergency vehicles and CHP cars after the crash, their luggage — some of it spattered with blood — lined up on the side of the road as firefighters tried to get whatever they could off the ruined liner. A pink flower-print children's blanket, a blood-stained gold jacket, suitcases, duffel bags and boxes filled with apparent wholesale food items were stacked alongside the road.
The fatal victim's name was not released Sunday because his family needed to be notified of his death, officers said, but he was from Parlier, a small, rural town southeast of Fresno. One person left the scene, and the other 31 passengers were taken to both Mercy Medical centers – in Redding and Mount Shasta – and Shasta Regional Medical Center.
Crystal Langlitz lives down the road from where the crash happened.
Langlitz said her husband was in the bathroom when he heard the crash, which surprised her since it's normally a tranquil road.
"This is the first time (anything like this has happened)," she said. "This is crazy…we're way over there and he heard it."
The bus is operated by a company called Yellow Arrow, LLC, federal records show. The company doesn't have a federal safety rating, which drew questions from the American Bus Association.
"Why has this company been allowed to operate without a safety rating?" said Senior Communications Director Dan Ronan. "They just killed someone."
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration officials could not be reached for comment Sunday, but their records show the company is authorized to travel interstate and carry passengers only, and the Pasco-Wash.-based company has 10 drivers.
Borgen said there were two drivers on the bus Sunday.
Federal standards require bus drivers have eight consecutive hours off after driving 10 consecutive hours or more, but it's unclear how long the driver responsible for Sunday's crash was driving when it happened. The trip from Los Angeles to Pasco takes just under 17 hours, according to Google.
Records also show the bus hasn't had any other reported injuries in the past two years, but data from before then wasn't immediately available.
It is insured by Occidental Fire and Casualty Co. of North Carolina, the records show.
Of several phone numbers listed for the company, all but one didn't have a voice-message system set up and were not answered Sunday. A woman who picked up at one of the numbers said she didn't speak any English and there would be someone who could answer questions on Monday.
Of those who survived the crash, eighteen received treatment at Mercy Medical Center in Redding, where two were in critical condition Sunday afternoon. Three more were in serious condition and the rest were treated and released, said Heather Nichols, a hospital spokeswoman. Meanwhile, Shasta Regional Medical Center received four of the victims, spokeswoman Karen Hoyt said, but all of them were discharged by Sunday evening.
Ten other patients were sent to Mercy Medical Center in Mount Shasta, where six were admitted and four were treated and released, Nichols said.
There, 11 patients were initially being treated, but one with critical head injuries was flown to Redding, and eight had been discharged as of Sunday evening, said Joyce Zwanziger, the hospital's public information officer. Two more were still there in stable condition, though Zwanziger didn't know the extent of their injuries other than that they were lacerations, contusions and a fracture.
Mercy Redding is working with the Salvation Army and the Red Cross to provide assistance to the victims after being released, Nichols said. Some of them were staying at the hospital's nearby Hospitality House, she said.
"We're just keeping them safe and comfortable," she said.
When the hospital heard about the number of victims they set up a command center at the emergency room, Nichols said.
"We drill for this kind of thing," she said.
Sunday's incident was the second deadly bus crash on I-5 in the North State this year. The first happened in April in Orland and killed 10 people, though that was not a solo-vehicle crash like Sunday's and was caused by a FedEx truck-driver crossing I-5 and hitting a bus full of high-school students.
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