Vehicle Drives Off Parking Structure In Downtown Salt Lake City
Dec 18, 2019, 1:17 PM | Updated: Dec 19, 2019, 6:53 am
A vehicle that drove off a parking structure in the downtown area became stuck between two buildings, authorities said. (Photo: Salt Lake City Fire Department)
(Photo: Salt Lake City Fire Department)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – It looked like something straight out of a Jason Bourne movie.
A van standing on its nose between two buildings in a narrow alley.
Only, in this case, it was real life, and the driver had to be taken to a hospital.
“Luckily he just sustained minor injuries,” said Captain Adam Archuleta with the Salt Lake City Fire Department. “It’s a very unusual call for us today.”
However, the question everyone had who walked past the scene off 5th East and 100 South in Salt Lake City was, what happened?
“Yeah, exactly how the event occurred, that remains to be determined,” said Capt. Archuleta.
Whatever started it all, the driver went through a chain link fence at the top of the parking garage and fell 25 feet to the ground.
“It’s a commercial business, the parking structure, as far as which building it belongs to, I don’t have those answers,” said Capt. Archuleta.
Getting answers as to how get the van out took a little planning.
The first step was to cut a fence blocking the alley to make room.
Then firefighters had to cut small trees out of the way.
Next, the van had to be knocked onto its side and then pulled out.
“We train for circumstances like this on our side of the fence, however, once the patient has been removed, it’s going to take a couple different entities within the city to make sure we can get the vehicle removed safely as well,” said Capt. Archuleta.
In order to get that van out, fire crews had to call a heavy recovery unit tow truck in order to clip on the cable and drag it on out.
In all, the entire operation only took a couple of hours.
“Pretty unique strategy,” said Capt. Archuleta. “Again, this is not something that’s common for us.”
An SUV went off a parking garage in Salt Lake City. Fell about 2 1/2 stories (25 feet). The driver is OK, now it’s just a matter of figuring out how to get the SUV out of there. @slcfire @slcpd #ksltv pic.twitter.com/vE4VVH5YuU
— Alex Cabrero (@KSL_AlexCabrero) December 18, 2019
@slcfire now planning on how to knock the SUV to its side before having a tow truck connect to it and drag it out. pic.twitter.com/wMOpyXsPTE
— Alex Cabrero (@KSL_AlexCabrero) December 18, 2019
The SUV is on its way out. Great job @slcfire, @slcpd, and Stauffers Towing. Hopefully the driver recovers 100%. Last we heard, the driver just has minor injuries. pic.twitter.com/nlkBOuPmX1
— Alex Cabrero (@KSL_AlexCabrero) December 18, 2019
