Authorities say an empty car and abandoned house were hit by a 2017 GMC Sierra pick-up truck. Witnesses say the driver narrowly missed hitting other cars on the road during the incident.
“I saw this car cut me off,” said Sean Galette. “It hit a car first and then ran right into a house.”
A neighbor who was sitting on his porch said he saw the car travel off-road and over a row of bushes before it struck his car and the house next door.
“I was sitting here and next thing I know, I see a truck coming at me, airborne,” the man said.
The neighbor said the dazed driver got out of the car before the fire spread to the house and heard him tell rescuers that he was choking on food when he blacked out and crashed.
“He was choking and next thing he knew he was over there,” the man said.
Cornwall police say the driver was a 53-year-old man from Cornwall and that the house he hit was abandoned.
“I was like shocked,” a neighbor said. “Thank God the car was there otherwise he would’ve got me.”
Firefighters were on scene in frigid temperatures for hours knocking down the fire. Police say the driver suffered minor injuries in the crash and that no one else was hurt.
A portion of Route 32 was closed for several hours while firefighters worked to get the fire under control.
Blaise Gomez's raw footage of fire scene