For the business owner, building owner and driver, this is not the time to be thinking I hope I have enough insurance!! Hope everyone is OK.
SEATTLE - Seven people were injured, including at least two children, when an SUV crashed into a hair salon in South Seattle. Officials said the two-story building now is in danger of collapsing.
An off-duty firefighter was in the area when the crash happened, at about 1:25 p.m. Thursday. He rushed inside the salon and extinguished spot fires under the SUV as police and medics responded to the scene, at Rainier Avenue South and S. Ferdinand Street.
Emergency responders arrived to find found the SUV completely inside the Carol Cobb Salon, with debris lying all around.
According to initial reports, four family members were inside the SUV and some of them were trapped by the debris. Firefighters quickly removed piles of debris outside the building to pull them free.
All four of those in the SUV sustained injuries. Two people inside the hair salon also were injured. Those six were taken to local hospitals but the extent of their injuries was not immediately known. A seventh person injured was treated the scene.
Kyle Moore of the Seattle Fire Department said the crash may have compromised the building's structural integrity. Two cracks have formed in the walls and are still expanding, he said.
"We're worried about whether this building might collapse, so we're bringing in engineers from the city to determine the structural integrity of the building," Moore said.
There was no immediate word on what led up to the crash.
All lanes of Rainier Avenue South and S. Ferdinand Street will remain closed in the vicinity while a structural assessment is completed on the building.
