Downed power line snags Valley school bus

A Snoqualmie Valley School District bus ran over a downed power line in predawn darkness Thursday, March 12, leaving the driver and one student stranded until emergency crews responded.

A Snoqualmie Valley School District bus ran over a downed power line in predawn darkness Thursday, March 12, leaving the driver and one student stranded until emergency crews responded.

School district employees, the Fall City Fire Department and a Puget Sound Energy emergency crew responded around 6:50 a.m. Thursday, after the bus driver called for help.

Emergency crews closed Lake Marie Road, where the bus was stranded, and Puget Sound Energy cut power off to the line, allowing the driver and student to exit the bus.

“Both student and driver are safe,” said Carolyn Malcolm, the district’s spokeswoman.

Officials from the fire department and Puget Sound Energy think the downed power line was the result of an earlier, unreported accident, Malcolm said.

The student made it to Chief Kanim Middle School on time, she said.

Another district school bus picked up the rest of the route’s students, who attend Mount Si High School and Chief Kanim Middle School, along Fish Hatchery Road.

“All the appropriate safety measures were followed,” Malcolm said.