Two school buses were involved in crashes within the last week in the Lakes Region. While no one was hurt in a Standish accident, one died and several more were hospitalized in a more serious Bridgton collision.

Bridgton police confirmed that 74-year-old Jacqueline Ingalls, of Casco, died as a result of a collision between her 1989 Plymouth mini-van and a Lake Region School Administrative District 61 school bus on Route 302 in Bridgton on Monday, Nov. 5, at about 7 a.m.

Bridgton police responded to the two-vehicle crash on Route 302 in South Bridgton in an area known as Packard’s Hill. Police investigation indicated that the school bus was traveling in a southbound direction on Route 302 and the minivan was traveling northbound. For unknown reasons, police say the minivan swerved into the travel lane of the school bus resulting in a head-on collision.

The school bus was carrying three students and the driver, 62-year-old Blair Watson, of Naples. All occupants of the school bus were transported to Bridgton Hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. Ingalls was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash.

According to Ingalls’ husband of 32 years, Darrell, Ingalls was on her way to a friend’s home in Bridgton when the crash occurred. Darrell Ingalls was set to take his wife later Monday morning to the Portland Jetport for a flight to Orlando, Fla., so she could visit her children. Darrell said he has no idea what caused Ingalls to cross the centerline and strike the oncoming bus.

“It’s been an awful day,” Darrell Ingalls said Monday night. “She was a God-fearing woman, and all I can say is she’s in a happier place now.”

In the other bus crash, Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded at about 3:30 p.m. to a three-vehicle crash on Route 25 in Standish on Friday, Nov. 2. One of the vehicles was a SAD 6 bus carrying 34 children ranging from kindergarten to fifth-grade. None of the occupants of the bus or any of the drivers were injured.

The bus was stopped in the east-bound lane of Route 25 delivering a child when a westbound 1997 Ford pickup truck operated by Kelly Eastman, 31, of Hiram, struck the front end of the bus after striking the rear of a 2000 Subaru station wagon operated by Shawn Gervais, 37, of Waterboro. Gervais was stopped in the westbound lane for the 2004 Bluebird bus being operated by Gary Plumley, 56, of Standish.

According to the sheriff’s office, Eastman had dropped a water bottle on the floor and was distracted as she reached down to grab the bottle with traffic stopped in front of her. She took evasive action, struck the rear of a 2000 Subaru and then struck the front end of the bus.

All three vehicles suffered about $1,500 worth of damage each. Traffic was down to one lane for about 80 minutes until the scene could be cleared. Emergency personnel from the Standish and Limington fire departments arrived on scene to assist. Charges are possible, the sheriff’s office reported, pending the outcome of the completed investigation.