Crash follows 2-vehicle wreck
BUTLER TWP — The attractive sprawling brick ranch at 111 Cedar Road was on the market for three months.
Doug Smith, the owner, had renovated the three-bedroom house for the previous year or two, getting it in tiptop condition.
Prospective buyers had been stopping by in recent weeks and seemed to like what they saw.
But any immediate sale was dashed Wednesday afternoon when two pickups collided, sending one of the trucks crashing into the side of the unoccupied home. No one was hurt.
“The guy's all right,” Smith said, referring to the driver. “That's a good thing.”
Butler Township police are investigating the wreck that happened about 4:15 p.m. at Cedar Road and Arch Street. The names of the drivers were not immediately released.
Police suspect one of the drivers, a 75-year-old Center Township man, was traveling north on Arch Street when he ran a stop sign at the intersection.
The other driver, believed to be in his 30s, was headed west on Cedar Road and was unable to avoid the other truck.
Following the side, front-end collision, the older man's GMC pickup traveled through Smith's side yard — passing a “for sale” sign — and slammed into the house.
Both drivers were able to get out on their own. A Butler Ambulance Service crew checked out the older man, authorities said, but he declined further medical treatment.
Fire department officials inspected the house and determined there was obvious damage to the side of it but the foundation appeared to be intact.
An electrical outlet was affected. A Peoples Gas worker found no gas lines were damaged.
Smith said the house was insured. An insurance company representative arrived shortly after the wreck.
Police could not say what, if any, charges would be filed in the crash.
Smith said he learned about what happened to his house after a telephone call from his son. He drove there a half-hour later to get his own look-see.
He took it all in without a bad word. No sense in getting angry, he said, adding: “Life's too short.”
