No one was injured after an unlicensed teen driver crashed into and damaged a California fire station earlier this week.
The accident happened shortly after 3 p.m. Tuesday at the Menlo Park Fire Protection District's East Palo Alto station, the district said in a release. A Dodge pickup truck driven by an unlicensed 17-year-old boy and carrying two other teens crashed into a retaining wall for the station's wheelchair access ramp and front steps, which deflected the vehicle and kept it from hitting the actual building.
The station sustained thousands of dollars in damages to in the incident, ranging from broken concrete to a sheared off metal handrail. The crash also caused extensive damage to the pickup's front passenger side.
“This is the third time the fire station has almost been struck by a vehicle since being rebuilt in 2016," Menlo Park Fire Chief Harold Schapelhouman said in a statement. "We added concrete bollards to protect the corner of the new structure when it was rebuilt and they have twice done their job extremely effectively. We also raised the overall height of the Station compared to the height of the street and sidewalk, which appears to have helped as well. This is an extremely fortified essential service building by design.
"That said, these kids are lucky no one was on the sidewalk and that they weren’t injured themselves. We’ll look at adding bollard-style bases to the sheared off handrails, as well, because this is the first time a vehicle has made it down the building this far."
And while none of the teens were injured in the crash, Schapelhouman said the biggest concern for the unlicensed driver might be explaining to his dad about "borrowing" the pickup truck.
