More than three weeks after the fiery crash involving a wrong-way vehicle and a Chumash Casino Resort bus, local authorities are awaiting confirmation of the deceased vehicle driver’s identity. 

On Monday, Undersheriff Brad Welch from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office said the agency was awaiting DNA testing results from the Department of Justice to confirm the name, age and hometown of the driver.

Shortly after 3 a.m. June 26, California Highway Patrol officers received a report about a wrong-way driver on Highway 101 north of Los Alamos.

Emergency personnel found a Chumash Casino bus and a Honda Civic engulfed in flames south of Palmer Road.

More than a dozen occupants on the bus including driver Rema Alicia Padilla of Santa Maria safely exited, but the Honda driver sustained fatal injuries and was declared dead at the scene, the CHP said.

Since the fire quickly engulfed the Honda, the Coroner’s Bureau needed additional steps including DNA testing to confirm the driver’s identity.

Chumash representatives and county firefighters said 14 people were on the bus at the time of the collision.

Some of those people on the bus had minor to moderate injuries and were transported to Marian Regional Medical Center.

The bus carried employees of the Chumash Casino. Along with operating buses for customers, the tribe provides complimentary bus transportation for workers around the clock via the Employee Shuttle Service to and from Santa Maria, Lompoc and Solvang.

The crash and investigation affected Highway 101 traffic for several hours June 26.