Denver School Bus Crashes into House

A school bus loaded with 28 kids from Hill Middle School crashed into a house near 5th Avenue and Albion Street on Wednesday afternoon, sending 16 students and three adults to five local hospitals, most with minor injuries.

An adult, believed to be the bus driver, and four students were transported to University Hospital. Three others went to Rose Medical Center; six others to Denver Health; two kids were taken to Children's Hospital and three were transported to St. Anthony Medical Center.

No one was seriously injured and most are in fair condition. Some have already been treated and released, hospital officials said.

Fortunately, no one was in the home at the time of the crash, which occurred at about 2:45 p.m., a few minutes after the students were picked up from school.

"They called me at work and they said, 'A bus has hit your house,' and I went, 'You mean like the house or just the lawn?' And they said, 'No, it went in the window and hit the house.' I was just more concerned whether or not somebody was hurt," said Tracey Lepine, the owner of the home.

Lepine said even though she was warned, she was stunned when she drove home and saw dozens of kids on the lawn and dozens of firefighters helping out. She said her house looked like there had been an explosion, with glass and bricks everywhere. Lepine said all she can do is laugh because the whole experience seems surreal.

But for students on the bus and those who saw it all happen, it was a terrifying.

"I heard screams and I heard a big boom," one young witness said.

The bus apparently lost control on 4th Avenue, hit the side of a silver Saab, bounced across the curb, through the front yard of a corner house, kept going another 300 yards, across 5th Avenue, and flew into the side of a home on the corner of Albion.

Witnesses told 7NEWS that it doesn't appear as if the driver ever hit the brakes before the bus smashed into the home and what used to be the dining room.

"It appeared that she came around the corner on 4th and was out of control, continuing to accelerate," one witness said.

Another witness said he saw the bus lose control and had to swerve to miss it.

"She began on the other side and began to swerve. She swerved and missed me a little bit and then she was trying to straighten the wheel out but all the kids were screaming. I think she kind of freaked out a little bit and didn't know which direction to go," said witness Michael DiPalma.

He said after he saw the bus jump the curb and crash into the house, he got out of his car and started to help unload the kids from the emergency door in the back of the bus.

"It looked to me as though they were in a deep state of panic. They were all freaking out, didn't know what to do. So I was just trying to maintain order and make sure they got across the street fast, so at least they get away from the bus," DiPalma said. "They were screaming like crazy. They were going nuts. But I didn't see any injury, except for one kid, who had a bloody nose."

Some students were put in neckbraces and strapped on backboards in a makeshift triage on a lawn across the street as they waited to be transported to various hospitals. Most of the kids had complained of neck and back pain, firefighters said.

Besides the driver, two other adults were transported to the hospital. One victim was in a car that was also struck by the bus and one person collapsed while running toward the accident scene.

The parents of all the children on board the bus were notified of the accident and rushed to the scene, trying to find their child. Some parents who were brought to the school cafeteria were told to wait there but others broke through the police barriers, searching for answers.

"I'm hysterical. How in the hell does a bus go into a house?" said grandmother Patricia Matthews, who was told that her grandson was on the bus.