Horses, team bus collide

A Eureka school bus collided with two horses late Thursday night, but bus occupants suffered only minor injuries.

The Eureka Pride Travel bus, carrying the Eureka girls basketball team, was traveling at highway speed on U.S. 93 when it struck the horses at approximately 11:10 p.m. at the intersection of Whitetail Lane (mile marker 174, the Glen Lake Hill), according to Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Neil Duram.

The bus was severely damaged and driver Sue Utter, 63, was pinned in the driver’s seat with the dashboard collapsed around her lap.

Duram said there were 14 students on the bus along with coach Charli Chapman, 36, and Utter.

Utter went home Thursday night with “very minor injuries,” Duram said.

He said several of those on the bus had “glass dust” in their hair and had some blood or tissue from the horses sprayed on them, but none of the students were injured or sought medical treatment after being looked over by emergency technicians.

Duram said one of the horses collided squarely with the bus.

“Most of the intrusion was on the front passenger side obstructing the doorway. [The] bus driver did a remarkable job keeping control of the bus after the windshields were busted in,” Duram said. “There was probably a three-foot intrusion caved in at the front of the bus.”

Both of the horses — owned by Carrie and Shawn Vandeberg of Eureka — were killed.

They were among eight of the Vandebergs’ horses that had escaped from their corral Thursday night.

Horses were reported on the roadway of U.S. 93 south of Eureka at 10:35 p.m. A Lincoln County sheriff’s deputy and Eureka Police Department officer were in the area looking for the horses at the time of the collision. Three of the horses were located and contained near RJR ranch that night.

“We thought there were only five horses,” Duram said.

The three remaining horses were located Friday morning.

“This is the first time that I am aware of their horses being along the roadway,” Duram said. “They escaped after being fed in the evening. [The] owners discovered their horses were gone upon morning feeding.”

Duram said this is only the second time in his 12 years on the patrol that he has investigated horses being struck by vehicles.

The Eureka Lady Lions were returning from a game at Bigfork which they won, 40-24.

“We were very fortunate that nobody was severely injured,” Duram said. “The girls did awesome as far as dealing with it.”

He said road conditions were mostly dry, and a salt solution had been applied to minimize ice.

He said that the two horses killed belonged to the Vandebergs’ daughter.

“It was a tough day for the Vandebergs,” Duram said.

Eureka School District Superintendent Jim Mepham said Utter is a longtime driver with the district with a “great record” whose skills prevented serious injury or rollover.

“Drivers had accident training yesterday morning with the same MHP officer who responded,” Mepham said in an email to the Daily Inter Lake.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or by email at hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.