for firefighters and sense of community among residents was striking, and the transpor- tation department felt proud to be part of the effort. She noted that the fire dam-


age will likely make the area especially vulnerable to mud- slides and rockslides during winter and spring rains and snows, so the department will need to keep up on the latest road conditions and alter routes as needed. During frequent heavy snows, Blach and an- other employee will drive the routes in their private vehicles at 4 a.m. to check if they are safe and passable for buses. “Then we meet here and see


what it’s like—Have plows been out? Are the roads wide enough for kids to walk to their school bus stop?—We check all the weather sites, CalTrans, the city and county,” she explained. Drivers also regularly practice


putting chains on their buses, a common necessity during the winter. Extreme weather and fires


are also a constant challenge in Alaska, where Kansas City- based Apple Bus runs about 100 buses on the Kenai Peninsula. Winter weather plus wildfires and earthquakes that cause coastal tsunamis are a real and frequent risk in Alaska, with two warnings in four years in Apple Bus’s service area, noted Reid Oyster, who owns the company with his father Mike. “Fortunately, the warnings


didn’t amount to much, but there’s been a lot more seismic activity in Alaska recently,” Oyster said. “Everybody’s worried about the big one hit- ting, in which case we would assemble all our folks and help in any way we can.”


Hurricane Ida damaged the school bus contractor Apple Bus Company’s New Orleans fleet in August. The company and other operations along the Gulf Coast are constantly reminded of the impact weather can have.


50School Transportation News • NOVEMBER 2021

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