Update: Port Royal fire station damaged in Sunday crash
A sport-utility vehicle crashed into the Port Royal Fire Station on Sunday afternoon, hurting the driver and damaging the building.
About 2 p.m. Sunday, firefighters heard the sound of an engine growing louder before a black Ford Escape slammed into a pillar on the station's front porch on Paris Avenue, Beaufort-Port Royal Fire Chief Reece Bertholf said. A concrete and steel column crashed through the windshield.
The crash affected the single story building between the fire station bays and police department.
Two firefighters were in the station at the time of the crash, Bertholf said. The SUV came through a wall where firefighters often sit to complete paperwork, but no one was in the area at the time, he said.
The destroyed column remained in front of the building Tuesday near some obliterated shrubbery. Yellow tape cordoned off the area.
"This incident remains under investigation, but I am extremely proud of the way our firefighters at the Port Royal station responded just seconds after their own lives were endangered," Bertholf said.
The driver was removed with Jaws of Life and taken to Beaufort Memorial Hospital. Savannah television station WSAV reported that the driver had suffered a seizure and was treated and released.
Town public works employees temporarily patched the building and an inspector said the station could remain open, according to a news release.
The town doesn't yet know the extent of the damage and what repairs might cost, town manager Van Willis said.
The crash is being investigated by the S.C. Highway Patrol. Information on the crash was not immediately available from the Highway Patrol on Tuesday.
Follow reporter Stephen Fastenau on Twitter at twitter.com/IPBG_Stephen.
Related content:
- Police identify motorcyclist killed in Port Royal wreck Thursday, May 1, 2015
- Mother of man killed in deadly Port Royal firetruck crash loses lawsuit, Oct. 19, 2015
This story was originally published January 19, 2016 at 9:01 AM with the headline "Update: Port Royal fire station damaged in Sunday crash."