TACOMA, Wash. — A driver crashed their car into a South Tacoma commercial building around 11:45 a.m. Sunday. The crash caused an interior gas meter to break and and forced emergency responders to cordon off the streets in the area.
Tacoma firefighters and police officers responded to the incident in the 5800 block of South Washington Street . One person was transported to an area hospital for minor injuries, a fire department spokesman said. No one else was hurt.
“The vehicle went all the way inside the building,” Chief Doug Kimball said. “It took out the main gas meter -- it’s been filling the building with gas since the accident.”
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Approaching the building, you can see the gray Chevy Camaro wedged up against the metal warehouse. John Gilchrist owns the warehouse and the car dealership attached to it.
"I got a phone call from the employees that somebody had ran into our building," Gilchrist said.
Once firefighters assessed the situation, they shut down nearby streets while they addressed the issue of gas leaking into the building.
"The gas line did go into the building," he said. "Because it [the building] was really full of gas.That was the concern."
Tacoma Fire evacuated the six people working in the area. Sound Transit's South Tacoma Station was also closed.
As the warehouse quickly filled with gas, responders main concern was anything that may create a spark and as a preventative measure, the power to the entire block was shut off.
The grid was shut off so that firefighters could get into the building and shut down its power without creating a spark Chandler said.
"If they had cut it at the pole over here, it could have sparked the building. That could have caused an explosion," he said.
Firefighters then had to wait for the gas to dissipate, which took three and a half hours. Only after the gas in the building dissipated was it safe enough to remove the vehicle.
The driver was taken to a local hospital as a precaution. The driver has not been identified; more information may be released Monday.
Cox Media Group
