Early on Friday evening RFS brigades were responded to a motor vehicle accident on Grassy Gully Road near Coolendel campgrounds, 20km west of Nowra.
Ninety-nine school children and teachers and support staff had been traveling from the grounds when their bus slipped off the road and hit a tree, smashing several windows and wedging it across the road, trapping the second coach behind it and anyone else trying to leave the area.
Fortunately no one was injured, however with the onset of a cold night, emergency services were faced with 113 people that needed to be evacuated from the remote area to a warm and safe place, prior to continuing their journey home.
NSW Rural Fire Service crews lead the planning and execution of the process, utilising a number of buses bought in to ferry the group to the Shoalhaven Integrated Emergency Management Centre (IEMC) in Nowra. Crews provided lighting and blankets, worked with staff to confirm the manifest and account for all students and then evacuate them. Crews also worked with NSW Ambulance officers to ensure the safety and welfare of all persons and South Coast Police District officers to manage the recovery of the bus late into the night.
The operation conducted over a 6-hour period was highly successful with no injuries reported.
