It seems we at Esprit (my condo complex) were long overdue for an adventure and an opportunity to get to know our neighbors...
Last night, about 10:45, I had just finished washing my face and was getting ready to crawl into bed at a decent hour. Then, BOOM! SHAKE! FLASH! and darkness. (<-- I think there's a song in there somewhere.) If that was a transformer that blew, that was very close, I thought. Grabbing the flashlight, I located my lantern and headed outside. But wait, I thought, it is January, so I went back for my shoes.
Other neighbors were already out, so I asked about the transformer theory.
"Not really," they said. "Actually, a truck just drove through the side of the building."
"Is there anyone still in the vehicle?" I couldn't see how they could have gotten out with how wedged in it was.
Yes. I was pointed to two girls. I asked if they were hurt and they both insisted they were fine, although I could tell the driver was in shock. I left them for a few minutes to get some blankets to wrap around themselves. I spent a bit of time with them and truly believe they were sober. It was just a freak accident.
The driver and her friend, both 18, were trying to find a friend’s house. They rounded the corner on my street, and somehow her boot got caught under the accelerator and in trying to free it to hit the brake, she slammed down hard on the gas pedal. With only about 40-50 yards, that Chevy TrailBlazer must have built up some impressive speed.
It must have hit the power box and dragged it about eight feet before being launched over it, threading through some porch pillars and garage support columns and through the side of Kathy's garage.
I think her guardian angel must have taken over the steering. A few inches either way, and I’ll bet she could have brought down the building on top of the car.
You can see the back end of the Blazer resting on what was left of the power box. The electrician later told us how lucky we were that the lines had been severed so cleanly and that it didn't leave live wires resting in the mud puddle of leaking gasoline.
That box must have slowed the vehicle. Otherwise, this could have been even worse. The two girls in the next condo were standing in their garage—just a few feet from where the vehicle stopped. Also, Kathy wasn’t home at the time, so the garage was car-less. Her car would have compounded things even more.
For the next few hours, there were cops, crime scene detectives, ambulances, firemen, electricians, tow truck drivers, and a myriad of other official people.
Around 2:30 AM, we thought things were settling down—the electrical box had been moved (it took both the tow truck and electrician’s heavy duty winch to move it), the vehicle had been extracted, and we were just waiting for the firemen to come back and clean up the gas so the electricity could be reconnected, when a neighbor in the building to the west said there was smoke, but no fire in his unit. Getting close, we could hear and see water gushing from a garage. And there was black smoke oozing from the eaves. The owner of the unit on fire was out of town.
Seven large fire trucks and a few small ones, a thousand firefighters (OK, maybe there were only 40 or 50), and the adventure was back on. They broke through the ceiling of the garage and we could see the flames. All the firefighters were on hand in case they need to rip the roof off (they didn’t). By 3:30-3:45 AM, I was completely out of steam and went back in to get lost under my down comforter and to perhaps sleep. I could still hear the work outside, but was sure it would go on without me. The power came back on at 5:18 AM, then I slept for a few hours and, well, I didn’t make it into work today.
Here’s the gaping hole, in the light of day, with Kathy inspecting the damage. Look at our shiny new electrical box.
In a matter of hours, three units have been declared unlivable, but there were a number of miracles last night. And through it all, I discovered what wonderful neighbors I have.
Channel 5 showed up about 2:00 AM: http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=5303791. They got some details wrong and it took them about 45 minutes to convince anyone to be interviewed. But you’ll notice that my neighbor, Dan, looks camera-ready at 3 o’clock in the morning.
