Crime & Safety

Car Crashes into House, Causes Fire

Windsor Volunteer Firefighters fought a late-night blaze caused by a car crashing into a home.

Windsor fire units were on the scene of Bloomfield house fire late Wednesday after a car smashed into the building, igniting a fire minutes later that destroyed the structure.

Donna Spears was watching television in her Tyler Street home when she heard what she thought was a bomb go off in her home until she heard a man screaming "Help me, help me!"

Alarmed, she went to find her husband before noticing a car and a downed tree had smashed into her home, she said Wednesday night.

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"I went to go get my husband and then I saw man crawling from the car into my rec. room," Spears said. Spears' husband immediately called 911, and police arrived on the scene within minutes.

Sears estimates 10 to 15 minutes passed before a fire broke out in the vicinity of the car, and spread throughout the home, causing significant fire damage.

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Windsor Fire Chief Bill Lewis, who is also the Fire Marshal of the Blue Hills Fire District, was on the scene Wednesday.

According to Lewis, the driver was the sole occupant of the vehicle, and he sustained non-life-threatening injuries. He was transported to St. Francis hospital, Lewis said.

The cause of the fire has yet to be determined, said Lewis, adding that an investigation of the scene is under way.

Immediately following the fire fight, the structure was unsafe for emergency personnel to examine the scene, according to Lewis, so units would have to wait in order to analyze possible causes.

According to Lewis, the car was traveling down Rockwell Avenue, which runs parallel to Park Avenue and Cottage Grove Road.

Rockwell Avenue is also perpendicular to Tyler Street, and it was at that intersection the driver, Lewis said, failed to stop, continuing straight through a stop sign and into the Spears' home at 61 Tyler Street.

Greg Tobin, who lives two doors down from the Spears said her heard the crash.

"It sounded like a transformer blew," he said.

Tobin said police were on the scene approximately one minute after he heard the crash.

He also said speeding cars are frequently scene breezing through the neighborhood, which is sandwiched between three major roads.


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