Raleigh firefighter improving after school-bus wreck

Lt. Harry P. "Flip" Kissinger IV, 35, of Wake Forest, is being treated at WakeMed for serious injuries, including head trauma, according to Assistant Fire Chief Rusty Styons.

Kissinger was injured during a wreck Friday morning on Ligon Mill Road near Louisburg Road. A school bus going east, driven by Sheila Wimbush Hall, 52, of Garner, and a station wagon traveling west collided. The bus then crossed the center line, striking Kissinger's pickup truck head-on.

The station wagon, driven by Angelica Perry, 23, of Raleigh, ended up in a driveway on the opposite side of the road.

The bus crashed into a ditch, with the cab of the pickup crushed beneath it. It took rescuers about 45 minutes to remove Kissinger from the truck, authorities said.

Kissinger's family posted to his Facebook page that his body responded positively to a reflex test after doctors lowered his dosage of sedatives Sunday.  He remained in critical condition at WakeMed's intensive care unit.

Perry and Hall suffered minor injuries, authorities said. Seven students from Southeast Raleigh High and Centennial Middle schools, who were on the bus, were not injured.

Authorities are still investigating the wreck, and it was unclear who was at fault in the crash.

Kissinger is a lieutenant at Fire Station 6, at Oberlin and Fairview roads, and has been with the department for 12 years, Styons said. He is married and has two daughters.

He was on his way home from work at the time of the crash.