No injuries but plenty of cleanup after pickup truck crashes into OASIS Senior Center

A pickup truck struck a red fire service hydrant and careened into a section of the OASIS Senior Center at around 5 p.m. Sunday, causing some street flooding and damaging the center.

“The driver was distracted, which resulted into an unsafe turning movement that caused him to collide with a fire hydrant and crash into building,” said Lt. Josh Vincelet of the Newport Beach Police Department.

Vincelet said the driver, a Lake Forest resident, was alone in the Ford truck at the time of the crash and that no drugs or alcohol were involved. The man was given a citation at the scene.

Newport Beach Utilities Director, Mark Vukojevic said city crews shut down the water coming out of the fire service hydrant “and then cleaned up all the mud in the street.”

OASIS director Melissa Gleason was on site after she was notified by city staff that one of the center’s buildings had been struck by a vehicle.

“The police and the fire department were also on scene,” said Gleason, who explained the water flooding the street was from a backflow and not main water.

“There was damage to the fencing around the garden, lighting, the outside of the fitness center and glass from window went inside onto the equipment,” Gleason said.

“There’s a certain protocol from fire department if the sprinkler system is not working, which is controlled by backflow,” explained Gleason. “We had to get someone at the facility from an outside company to be there around the clock until staff was present.”

Gleason said an equipment tech would assess the damage to the treadmills that had been directly behind the shattered window, to determine if they were salvageable.

Shattered glass landed on and around treadmills at the OASIS Senior Center Sunday after a truck crashed into the building.

(Courtesy of OASIS Senior Center)

Cleanup began Tuesday, following the Memorial Day holiday. Repairs to the water service line were made by a contracted company, and OASIS staff cleaned up broken glass and other debris inside the fitness center.

The fitness center coincidentally had been previously scheduled to be closed Tuesday for an installation of new sunshades. Once the debris cleanup was accomplished, it was reopened to its members.

“There’s many great things about working for the city,” Gleason said. “One of them is how the departments come together in these types of situations to get repairs done in a timely manner.”

An element of luck came into play, as at another time there might have been passersby or gardeners or others on the property. “Most importantly, the accident was was pretty significant, and the fact that no one was hurt is a miracle,” she said.