This last Monday we were doing some training in front of our apparatus bay behind city hall (our fire station is located directly behind city hall). As we were cleaning up we heard a small crash followed by a large boom. A firefighter and I quickly went forward to investigate and found that a Chevy Tahoe had run into the city hall multipurpose room. The firefighter, not realizing that I was with him, yelled for the medics. I informed the captain on what we had found and went to the squad. I donned my turnouts and pulled the squad around to the front of the building for better access.
The driver had been traveling northbound on Hacienda when he had a seizure. He lost control of the Tahoe and veered to his left. He ran over the City of La Habra Heights sign, missed 5 or 6 large trees, a couple of steel poles, entered the building without hitting any major structural members and came to a rest on the far end of the room. Thanks to his seat belt and airbag he was not complaining of any injuries. We put him in full spinal precautions and transported him to the ER.
After the call the Fire Chief selected me to talk to the one cameraman there. It turns out that he was an independent photographer and sells his shots to whoever will take them. I found out later that I was on the Fox 11 news at 10 pm. I'm trying the get a copy of the broadcast.
This was on the NBC Channel 4 web site:
ReplyDeleteCar Crashes Into La Habra Heights City Hall
Police: Driver Suffered Seizure Before Crash
POSTED: 4:26 pm PST December 10, 2007
LOS ANGELES -- A driver who suffered an apparent seizure crashed into the front of the La Habra Heights City Hall building Monday, but no one was injured, authorities said.
The collision occurred at 1 p.m. at 1245 N. Hacienda Road, said Sgt.
Glen Looney of the Industry Sheriff's Station. He said the damage did not appear to be major.
The driver, who was northbound on Hacienda when he suffered the
seizure, was taken to a hospital for a medical evaluation, Looney
said.
wild. Do drivers who have this happen to them get cited by the police? I've always wondered about that, when it's something out of your control....
ReplyDeleteHe was actually driving on a suspended/revoked license because of the seizure disorder. He is going to have to pay for all the damage and he was cited for driving without a license.
ReplyDelete