A Troubling Incident In Lone Grove, Oklahoma
Although it was Valentine's Day, 2006 Linda Long had other things on her mind as she stood anxiously watching as smoke from a raging wildfire drifted across Brock Road, near Lone Grove, Oklahoma. She was mentally preparing herself to defend her home from the fire should the need arise. She was also watching for Wyatt, her 11 year old son, to arrive home from school on the bus which drops him off near their home each day.
What Linda Long witnessed that day still haunts her and causes her great concern, although it is not a concern shared by some in the Brock community and apparently no one within the Lone Grove School administration.
Rather than seeing Wyatt arrive home safely on the school bus, Long saw him arrive in a fire truck in the company of another student, a 15 year old. The fire truck was driven by Ardmore, OK firefighter Scott Richards who had volunteered to give the two boys safe passage through the fire zone.
As Linda Long questioned her son regarding the events which resulted in his arriving home in a fire truck it became apparent that the two boys had been "put off" the Lone Grove school bus at the southern end of the fire zone by driver Barbara Ramon and simply told to "walk home". Home was beyond the northern end of the fire zone. A fire zone which involved a total of approximately 60 acres and extended for over half a mile. After putting the boys off the bus, Ramon then turned the bus around and left the area to continue her route dropping off other students.
Long learned that when the boys were put off the bus they began walking north toward the fire line and after having gone only twenty feet and facing a wall of smoke they were approached by Ardmore Firefighter Scott Richards who questioned the boys as to what they were doing and why. Richards then told the boys to get into his vehicle, one of fifteen reportedly on the fire line, and that he would take them home.
As a result of this incident, Linda Long had questions. Lots of questions. Foremost in her mind was why the children were not kept aboard the bus, returned to school and their parents called.
The apparent answer to that question is provided by Lone Grove School Superintendent Gary Scott in two news reports, one in the Daily Ardmoreite and one in the Lone Grove Ledger. In the Ledger report Scott is quoted as saying:
School officials were in contact with the bus driver during the incident relaying information from fire officials at the scene. After receiving available information from officials at the scene, I made the decision to unload the students at that location.
The Daily Ardmoreite report quoted Superintendent Scott as saying:
There was a fire in the vicinity of South Brock and Buckskin but the
bus was not surrounded by smoke.
The report also indicated that Scott claimed that Long's son Wyatt was
dropped off "about four-tenths mile from his home".
Since both the Ardmoreite and Lone Grove Ledger reports attributed to Linda Long a statement that the boys were dropped off approximately one mile from the Long home, we at Bubbaworld asked Long to double-check the distance and report back to us. Long did this by driving her vehicle between her home and the point where the boys were dropped off, a spot still marked by patches of burned grass at the time of her measurement. Long reports that the distance is eight-tenths of a mile, twice the distance claimed by Superintendent Scott in news media reports.
In looking at this troubling incident one logically asks why were two kids put off a school bus in the vicinity of a wildfire. Two apparent motives come to mind, both troubling. The most troubling of the two possible motives is that school officials decided it was simply too dangerous to transport a bus load of children through the fire zone. The lesser but still troubling motive is that the bus could not get through the area owing to on- going fire fighting operations.
If it was too dangerous to transport a bus full of children through the area owing to fire, smoke or both who in their right mind would believe it safe to send two kids walking through the same area?
If it was impossible for the bus to pass through the area owing to on-going fire fighting operations who in their right mind would believe it wise to send two kids walking into the middle of those operations where fire fighting equipment was in use and fire trucks were in motion, all concealed within heavy smoke?
The inescapable conclusion is that two children were needlessly put at risk when they were told to get off the bus and walk home in the vicinity of a wildfire and on-going fire fighting operations.
What should have taken place is that the two students should have been told to remain on the bus and once all other children had been safely dropped off, the two boys should have been transported either back to the school or to the local police department to await being picked up by their parents.
The lack of judgment on the part of the Lone Grove school administration should be cause for grave concern on the part of all parents with children in the system as unless mistakes are acknowledged and corrections made they too may one day look up to see their children coming through a cloud of smoke on a fire truck. If they are lucky...
As always, anyone wishing to comment upon articles published on Bubbaworld, offer praise, curses, hate mail or threats of law suits are free to do so by e-mailing The Bubbaworld Webmaster . All such contributions become the sole property of Bubbaworld.com and as such may be published on this site at the sole discretion of the Webmaster.
