March 25, 2002
Dumas youth spared in Colorado crash
___By George Henson
___Staff Writer
___DUMAS--A miracle and some fancy driving avoided a catastrophe in the mountains of Colorado recently as a bus carrying 40 teenagers and adults from First Baptist Church of Dumas narrowly averted a collision with another tour bus.
___"I think it was every pastor's worst nightmare," Pastor Eddie Tubbs said. "Our associate pastor, Roger Moore, was leading the trip, and he called me on his cell phone right after it happened. I couldn't hear him very well because of the mountains, but I could sure hear all the sirens."
THIS 1967 Silver Eagle bus owned by First Baptist Church of Dumas was carrying 40 teenagers and adults March 16 when the driver had to crash into a dirt berm between the roadway and a stone outcropping to avoid slamming into a loaded tour bus stopped on the road ahead. (Photo courtesy of The Mountain Mail/Denise Ronald).
___There were plenty of sirens to be heard--more than 50 emergency vehicles either responded directly to the accident site or were in back-up mode.
___Of the 40 passengers on the bus, 38 were injured; 30 were put on another bus and taken to Heart of the Rockies Regional Medical Center in Salida, Colo., while eight were transported to the hospital by ambulance. All had been treated and released by the next morning.
___Some people whose injuries were thought to be slight were found to have suffered more extensive injuries when examined after returning home, Tubbs said. "There's thankfully been no life-threatening injuries, but with each day we are finding that people were hurt more extensively than was first thought."
___Broken bones and internal bleeding seem to be the most egregious of the injuries from an accident that could have led to loss of life if not for the driving skills of church member Mark Ellibee.
___Ellibee is not a professional driver of any sort, Tubbs said, but a church member who took it upon himself to acquire a commercial license so he could drive the church's bus on trips like this youth ski outing over spring break.
___The accident happened about 4:40 p.m. Saturday, March 16, according to Don DeLorme, a trooper with the Colorado Highway Patrol. A tour bus carrying a Lutheran church group attempted to make a turn onto a narrow county road. The driver then determined he could not make the turn and backed up, blocking traffic in both directions on U.S. 50.
___By all accounts, the Texas bus came around a curve, encountered the blockade and had nowhere to go. To the left was a drop off of about 50 feet. On the right side of the road, a outcropping of rock stood about 15 feet away. Ellibee took the only path open to him, a narrow passageway between the stopped bus and the outcropping of rock. That also led the Dumas bus into a ditch about 15 feet deep.
___According to Colorado Highway Patrol reports, the Dumas bus swerved and skidded for almost 200 feet on the roadway before sliding about 75 feet down the embankment and running into a dirt berm.
___The 1967 Silver Eagle bus, one of two owned by the Dumas church, was in excellent condition before the accident, Tubbs said. He believes the age of the bus may have been one of the things that protected those on board. "They just don't make them like they used to," he said.
PASSERSBY and rescue workers were on the scene almost immediately to help youth and chaperones from First Baptist Church of Dumas off the bus after it jolted to a stop at this dirt berm along U.S. Highway 50 near Salida, Colo. (Photo courtesy of The Mountain Mail/Denise Ronald)
___While police officials praised Ellibee's driving, the driver of the other bus, which was a charter, was given four citations. He was ticketed for careless driving, causing bodily injury, unsafe backing and no proof of insurance.
___Tubbs had a great deal of praise for the people of Salida. People ran to the bus to assist the injured almost as soon as the bus stopped moving. Local residents also took a great amount of food to the hospital for the group.
___"The response of the people of Salida was just incredible," Tubbs said.
___Those released from the hospital stayed at a local motel for the night.
___Back in the Texas Panhandle, parents and church members gathered at the church to make plans. Ray Witt, a church member whose wife and children were on the bus during the accident, brought the keys for three Suburbans and a 15-passenger van to the church from his car dealership.
___By 10 p.m. the caravan of eight SUVs and the van were on the road to Colorado. Tubbs, who went to Colorado to help retrieve the group, explained that while the church owns another large bus, parents and church leaders didn't imagine the traumatized youth would want to get on another bus for the long trip home.
___Since Tubbs had been so suddenly dispatched to Colorado, Sunday morning's services were changed to an emphasis on prayer led by deacons and youth workers. Everyone was back in Dumas by Sunday evening.
___Being safe at home doesn't mean life is back to normal, however, Tubbs said. The church staff has not made it through its regular morning devotionals without tears yet, he said. And a meeting with parents and adult sponsors also was emotional.
___Easter Sunday morning will be a day of special thanksgiving and praise, Tubbs said. Praise for a God who looks after his children and for a conscientious driver who found a path when there was none to be found.
___With additional reporting from The Mountain Mail of Salida, Colo.
___
Get printer-friendly version of this story
Send this story to a friend
News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.
Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!/ Signup for FirstLook
