Personnel Recall Tragic Calif. Bus/FedEx Response

April 16--The Corning Fire Department dispatch center was very quiet on Monday as dispatcher Troy Mura sat at the center's console.

"Such wasn't the case on Thursday around 5:45 p.m., when I started fielding hundreds of calls concerning the charter bus and FedEx truck crash on Interstate 5 near Orland," Mura said.

The fire department serves as the dispatch center for Orland and Capay fire departments, as well as Corning.

"It was about the end of my shift when the calls emergency started coming in," Mura said, "but I couldn't leave, even when the next shift dispatcher, Daymon (Schlereth), came on because we were receiving so many phone calls and needing to dispatch so much information I needed to stay on and help."

The fire dispatch center played a critical role in the tragedy, serving as a key resource in orchestrating emergency response.

"We initiated the first response to both the Orland and Corning fire departments," Mura said. "In the end, we were calling out for mutual assistance from at least seven different emergency agencies."

At the scene of the horrific crash that killed 10 people and injure 30 more, Corning Fire Department had five firefighters serving in triage -- Fire Chief Martin Spannaus and volunteer firefighters Ronnie Johnson, Flint Nichols, Rocky Peterson and Bobby Nelson.

"I took the Tehama County Mass Casualty trailer that is stored at our department to the scene," Spannaus said. "We triaged patients as they came off the bus and also those at the Orland Memorial Hall, where we went to help set things up for the victims."

Spannaus said some of the victims were in obvious shock.

"But most were holding it together and seemed very stoic at the time. The depth of the tragedy hadn't hit them yet," he stated.

Mura said about one hour into the response time, the fire dispatch center started receiving calls from national media such as CNN, and news agencies from New York and Los Angeles.

"We also started getting calls from family members of people on the crashed bus as well as the other two busses associated with the group traveling to Humboldt," he said. "There was nothing I could tell them."

Spannaus said the emergency response teams had trained well for a tragedy like this.

"The recent emergency training we received in Alabama was a huge asset," he said.

By the time things were pretty much over, Mura said everyone at the dispatch center was drained and tired.

"It was remarkable how all the agencies involved worked together. I think it was especially tremendous as we are a rural area with limited resource available. Everyone involved did a great job," he stated.

All that remains today of the crash site on the freeway near Orland is a scorched area of ground and a poster hanging in Orland Memorial Hall thanking all of Glenn County and others for what they did.

The message was left there by survivors of the fiery crash who sought refuge from the community on the night of the tragedy.

The California Highway Patrol said it could take weeks to piece together enough information to determine why a FedEx truck, driven by Tim Evans of Elk Grove, veered across the median that divides I-5, sideswiped a car driven by Bonnie Duran, 53, of Lake Tapps, and then slammed head-on into the bus packed with students en route to visit Humboldt State University.

"Thank you for all the support," wrote Sineva Samantha Hosea, a survivor of the deadly crash that killed five teens, three adult chaperons and the drivers of the truck and bus. "I can't image if we didn't have your help. You all were too kind. I appreciate all you did and I am beyond thankful. You made this horrific incident easier for me."

Hosea, Elijiah Carranza and Michelle Lemos were among the last of the survivors to leave the makeshift shelter set up by the local American Red Cross and Glenn County volunteers.

They drew the poster while awaiting their flight home to Los Angeles the day after the accident.

The National Transportation Safety Board this week is examining two new pieces of video evidence trying to determine exactly what happened Thursday that caused the big rig and bus to collide and burst into flames.

One is a cellphone video shot by Duran, the Nissan driver involved in the collision, and video from the dashboard camera provided by the California Highway Patrol.

"This is critical information for us to understand how the fire progressed and also how the passengers exited," Mark Rosekind, a member of the NTS board, told the Los Angeles Times.

Witnesses who lived along I-5 said the FedEx truck veered sharply from the southbound lanes, across the median and into the Silverado Stages charter bus, which carried 48 passengers, including the 44 high school students from Southern California.

Rosekind said the truck left no skid marks on either the roadway or the median as it veered into oncoming traffic.

In contrast, more than 145 feet of tire marks indicated that the bus driver tried to stop and swerve to the right.

Glenn County Sheriff Larry Jones said the scene was shocking.

"We were extremely fortunate we did not lose everyone that was on that bus," Jones said. He had been at the scene of the Thursday evening truck-bus crash near Orland until 3:30 a.m. before heading to the shelter housing the survivors.

"It was nothing short of miraculous," Jones said. "The heat from the fire was tremendous."

Glenn County Search and Rescue, and Willows, Corning, Bayliss, Capay, Hamilton City, Glenn-Cordora, Artois, Red Bluff and Kanawha fire departments and volunteers also responded.

"It takes everybody to come together," Jones said. "Everyone plays a vital role."

The bodies of those killed were transported from the scene of the accident to Glenn County mortuaries, and then taken Friday to Paradise Chapel of the Pines for autopsies.

Jones said Monday all autopsies had been completed by Sunday.

"We worked through the weekend," he said.

At least four dead have been positively identified so that their bodies can be turned over to their loved ones, and a forensic odontologist is in the process of comparing dental records to several others.

Jones said he had hoped to track dental records on two of the victims, but anticipates it will take DNA analysis to positively identify them.

The Los Angeles Times contributed to this report.

Copyright 2014 - Corning Observer, Calif.