Mission students, teachers unharmed in wreck
courtesy photo
A St. Ignatius School van rests against the mountainside after being sideswiped by a pickup truck traveling in the opposite direction.
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RAVALLI — A violent crash involving a St. Ignatius School van and a pickup in the Ravalli Curves area of U.S. Highway 93 resulted in no injuries March 5.
The crash occurred around 2:40 p.m. March 5. The van, carrying three St. Ignatius High School seniors, a junior and two school employees was traveling north from the Brain Freeze Academic Tournament in Frenchtown. The school’s Gear-Up program liaison, Alan Pule, said the van was rounding a corner when the pickup, traveling the opposite direction, crossed the center line into oncoming traffic.
“(The pickup’s driver) must have thought I was drifting into his lane, so I pulled way to the left trying to avoid him totally,” Pule said. “I don’t know if he slowed down or what, but his vehicle didn’t make it all the way over.”
The truck sideswiped the van on the passenger side, causing it to roll at least once before coming to a rest against the mountainside. No serious injuries or deaths were reported.
“I think we had a seatbelt bruise on a stomach and somebody else had a little cut above their hairline. (The cut) was no bigger than the eraser of a pencil,” Pule said.
All parties involved in the accident walked away under their own power.
St. Ignatius City Council member Marine Johnson’s son was one of van’s passengers.
“He’s good, he’s fine,” Johnson said. “Miraculously, none of them were seriously hurt.”
Pule was unsure whether the van was leased by St. Ignatius Schools or bought out-right, but does believe the vehicle is totaled.
“There was glass everywhere,” he said.
St. Ignatius’ academic bowl team placed ninth in the Frenchtown tournament — the highest since the school began participating in these tournaments.
“The kids were really jacked about that,” Pule said. “They’re excited.”
