Car hits two houses, setting one afire
63-year-old woman charged with impaired driving after Facer Street area incident
A St. Catharines woman faces impaired driving charges after a car struck two houses on St. George Street, severing a gas line Monday night setting one on fire.
Niagara Regional Police said they were called to the St. George and Facer streets area at about 11:30 p.m. after the car hit the houses — backing into one and then hitting the other head-on — and roused the neighbourhood.
Hilary Murray and Marek Kasowski were falling asleep when their house was struck.
“It sure was a loud bang,” said Murray, who got out of bed and rushed to the window in time to see the car drive into the front of a house across the street.
The couple were about to go back to sleep, when panicked neighbours began pounding on their front door.
“They were banging on the door, telling us to get out because there was a gas leak,” said Kasowski. “Once you got outside you could smell it.”
The car had smashed the gas meter, gas line and an air conditioner.
Moments after Kaswoki and Murray grabbed their fourmonth-old kitten and left the house, sparks from the exposed air conditioning wires ignited the gas from the ruptured line.
“It was like a flame thrower,” said Kasowski. “One of our neighbours had a fire extinguisher and put it out, but the gas was still leaking so a few moments later the fire started again.”
Minutes later St. Catharines fire crews arrived and kept the fire under control until the gas to the house could be switched off. Police officers evacuated nearby homes as a precaution.
Kasowski and Murray said late Tuesday afternoon that the gas line had been repaired and gas restored to their home. The fire damaged some of the siding on their house.
The other house hit by the car was not as damaged.
Police said when they arrived officers found a brown Ford Fusion with “severe” damage to the front grill and rear bumper.
Taralee J. Lawson, 63, is charged with impaired operation of a motor vehicle and operating a vehicle with a blood-alcohol level of over 80 mg of alcohol in 100 ml of blood. She has been prohibited from driving for 30 days.
She was released from custody and is scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 30.