Car, school bus collide head-on

HEBRON —  An Oxford Hills school bus and a passenger vehicle collided head-on on Route 119 at the Hebron-Paris line Tuesday afternoon, sending the driver of the car, seven students and the bus driver to the hospital. 

On Wednesday morning SAD 17 Superintendent Rick Colpitts said that all students were discharged from Stephens Memorial Hospital in Norway.

He said that none of the students seemed to have serious injuries when he visited them in the hospital Tuesday afternoon. Colpitts said the bus driver, identified as Stephanie Rowe of Paris, was also taken to the hospital for examination.

Rescue personnel, including seven ambulances and LifeFlight responded to the accident that happened just before 2:30 p.m. 

The bus, according to Oxford County Sheriff Wayne Gallant, was transporting high school and middle school students home to Hebron when the westbound 1999 Audi A4, driven by 19-year-old Brandon Buffington of Paris, a student at an Auburn vocational training center, crossed the center line and crashed into the bus. 

The students left Oxford Hills Comprehensive High and Middle schools about 15 minutes before the crash occurred.

Emergency personnel had to use the Jaws of Life to remove the roof of the car and extract Buffington, according to Gallant. Buffington was then transported to the Hebron Academy athletic field where LifeFlight landed.

Buffington was transported to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston for severe but non-life-threatening injuries including, according to reports, two broken legs, two broken arms and chest trauma. He was listed in critical condition Tuesday night at Central Maine Medical Center.

Colpitts said seven students were transported to the hospital and an eighth student was collected by their parent. 

According to reports, the remaining 10 students were picked up by another bus and brought home. SAD 17 Transportation Director David Fontaine was on the scene to help students make the transfer. The students' ages ranged from about 12 to 16 years and they live in Hebron, Buckfield and Oxford.

Gallant said there were a total of 18 students on the bus. 

An eyewitness to the accident, Isaiah Carro, of Paris, said he was driving behind Buffington's car when he saw it swerve off to the opposite side of the road and slam head-on into the bus. 

He said both the car and bus appeared to be doing the 45 mph speed limit when the accident occurred. 

"The bus stopped dead in its tracks," said the witness. 

According to Carro, the collision caused Buffington to spin in circles before landing in the ditch alongside the bus. 

Carro said he immediately went over to Buffington "to make sure he was alive." 

"I didn't know what I was going to see, but I had to help him," he said. "His legs were wedged under the steering wheel ... I hope the kids [on the bus] are okay." 

The driver's grandfather, Willie Buffington, who is the Deputy  Chief of the Paris Fire Department said he believes the 19-year-old driver has suffered a serious arm and leg injury. According to Mr. Buffington, his grandson was conscious and talking when he left in the ambulance. 

Photo: Kayla Collins

COMFORT — A witness to the crash lends a comforting hand to Willie Buffington, grandfather of Brandon Buffington, 19, of Paris, who collided head-on with an Oxford Hills school bus Tuesday, as firefighters extricate him from his vehicle alongside the bus. 

Photo: Chuck Blaquiere

EXTRICATION — Firefighters from Paris and Hebron work for a half hour Tuesday to remove the roof of this Audi in order to free the driver, 19-year-old Brandon Buffington.

Photo: Leslie H. Dixon, Sun Media Wire

COMFORTING — SAD 17 Transportation Director David Fontaine stands with students who were on an Oxford Hills school bus involved in an accident Tuesday afternoon on Route 119 in Hebron.