An unusual accident has one Polk County family staying in a hotel now that their home is in shambles. Luckily, everyone involved walk
An unusual accident has one Polk County family staying in a hotel now that their home is in shambles.
Luckily, everyone involved walked away without a scratch.
The impact damaged the home so badly, it moved the house off its foundation by about 1 foot, preventing the sleeping family inside from getting out of the home.
What’s more, the semi struck a corner of the home that was just inches away from a mother and father who were in bed.
This happened just before 9 a.m. Sunday at the corner of Highway 411 and Bates Pike, according to the West Polk County Fire & Rescue department.
Officials say a pickup crossing Highway 411 came into the pathway of the semi truck, which struck it.
The impact knocked the pickup off the road and into a ditch, and caused a steering issue with the semi, which veered left onto the family’s property and into their home.
Both the pickup truck driver and semi driver were able to get out of their vehicles.
But crews had to pry open the house’s front door to recover the man, woman and their children.
Polk County Fire Chief Steven Lofty says the family inside decided to sleep in that day, and the semi struck a corner of the home that was just inches away from where the mother and father slept.
“Their children in their room could not get out because it racked or twisted the structure. And the doors wouldn’t open,” Lofty says.
Just one person involved had minor injuries, and one Polk County fire officer called that miraculous.
Jordan Anderson describes what he saw as the semi truck smashed into his neighbors home…
“I spoke to him and his wife, they were all pretty tore up. And his wife was really emotional because her office is in the basement and kids were in the basement when it first happened.”
In a post on Facebook, Benton City Fire Department Deputy Operations Officer Henry Harden says…
I have worked many wrecks in 22 almost 23 years in the fire service, but today we worked one that just absolutely blew my mind on how everyone walked away and one with minor injuries and the only answer I have is God was definitely not dealing with death today.
A neighbor shared video of the scene, and thanked emergency responders for their efforts:
The family has had to find a temporary place to stay.
Officials tell us an engineer will have to look at the home to see whether it can be repaired.
“I believe they’ll rebuild. The utilities has already pulled the meter and cut the wire so it’s got to be a hazard for it to be off center,” Anderson says.
A pickup truck hit a semi truck on Highway 411, and officials say the semi was forced to smash into a home on the corner.
