Yocum Primary prepares for repairs after a motorist collision

Damage: Large sheets of plywood cover damage to the north face of Yocum Primary School after a motorist collided with the building early Friday morning.  Terrance Armstard/News-Times
Damage: Large sheets of plywood cover damage to the north face of Yocum Primary School after a motorist collided with the building early Friday morning. Terrance Armstard/News-Times

The north side of Yocum Primary School received damage after a motorist collided with it early Friday morning, which caused damage to the outside of the building, two classrooms inside and a gas meter/ line.

The El Dorado Police Department was unable to provide a police report on the accident by press time, though Lt. Chris Lutman, public information officer for the EPD, did know some details.

Lutman said it did not appear that the driver was intoxicated from drugs or alcohol at the time of the collision. Instead, Lutman said, the driver seemed to have been driving too fast for the road conditions.

“Remember the old Kool-Aid commercials? That’s kind of what it reminded us of,” Lutman said.

The EPD responded to a burglary alarm, not initially realizing the driver crashed into Yocum Primary. Lutman said when police arrived, the driver appeared to have been trying to leave, though since an EPD officer was nearby, they were able to respond before he was able to.

The accident occurred at 2:30 a.m. early Friday morning. Lutman was unable to provide the name of the driver by press time Friday. He noted that no criminal charges have been pressed against the driver.

El Dorado Fire Chief Chad Mosby said the EFD also responded since the driver struck a gas meter. Mosby said firefighters were at the scene of the accident for about an hour due to a natural gas leak as a result of the collision.

El Dorado Superintendent Jim Tucker said he arrived at the school shortly after 3 a.m. when representatives from the gas company where already on the scene.

Kindergarten and first grade students did not attend classes on Friday, but were directed to do work at home, since the maintenance crews were still working on securing the building. Tucker said teachers still came to school. Several teachers helped pack up the classrooms that were impacted and moved them to another part of the building where they will remain for the three weeks left in the school year, Tucker said.

Classes will resume as usual on Monday.

Tucker said the maintenance crew secured the impacted areas inside so that students would be restricted.

“The two insurance companies are working together to figure out next steps,” Tucker said. “There’s an adjuster coming out Monday to take a look. Once the adjuster figures out what needs to take place, we’ll reach out to some contractors about repairs for this summer.”

Tucker said things went smoothly and he’s hoping for smooth repairs over the summer.

“Our maintenance crew did a really good job getting it cleaned up before a lot of people got out there,” he said. “They started working on it about 6:30 (a.m.), but if you drive out there and see the wood that they put up — most of that is gone. It was pretty extensive, but I don’t think it’ll be too hard to repair.”

Michael Shine may be reached at 870-862-6611 or [email protected].

Caitlan Butler may be reached at 870-862-6611 or [email protected].

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