Three porches collapsed when a driver hit the corner of a multi-family home in West Hartford Tuesday morning. [Updated with link to surveillance video that shows the accident in real time.]
A van hit the corner of a multi-family home on South Quaker Lane Tuesday morning, knocking the porches off the front of the building. Photo credit: Ronni Newton
By Ronni Newton
A vehicle crashed into a multi-family home on South Quaker Lane Tuesday morning, toppling three levels of porches, but according to West Hartford Fire Department Battalion Chief William Kall there were no injuries.
Kall said that the vehicle, a 2004 Toyota Sienna minivan, was traveling northbound on South Quaker Lane, proceeded through the intersection with Park Road, and hit the house at 240-242 South Quaker. The incident was reported at 6:52 a.m.
“She was out of the vehicle when we got there,” Kall said of the driver.
West Hartford Police have identified the driver as Deidre Horan, 47, of West Hartford.
“We think it was a medical issue. She just said she was driving up the road and all of a sudden she was in the house,” West Hartford Police Capt. Jeff Rose said.
All three levels of the multi-family home were occupied at the time of the crash, but none of the occupants were injured, Kall said.
Rick Bush, the property manager for building owner GRB Properties, was on the scene supervising the clean-up efforts. He wasn’t sure how many people were in the building at the time but confirmed that all three units were rented and occupied.
“One person slept right through it,” Bush said. “The guy on the first floor thought it was a dumpster.”
Kall said that the building inspector had already checked the property and that there was no structural damage.
“The building is inhabitable; it’s just the porches,” Bush said.
Bush said that he had been informed that the driver had passed out. He said that the van first clipped the corner of the Quaker Lane Barber Shop at 244 South Quaker before careening into the multi-family residence.
Although she did not appear injured, the driver of the van was taken to St. Francis Hospital for evaluation, Kall said.
NBC Connecticut has obtained video from the surveillance camera at the Shell gas station across the street that shows the van crashing into the house. Click here to watch.
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According to the property manager for 240-242 South Quaker Ln., a vehicle clipped the corner of the barber shop’s building before hitting the support that held up the porches for the multi-family residence. Photo credit: Ronni Newton
A 2004 Toyota Sienna hit a multi-family home on South Quaker Lane Tuesday morning, toppling all three levels of porches. Photo courtesy of West Hartford Police
