Two people were injured Friday, one of them seriously, as a para transit bus drove through a brick wall at the area health unit’s Brockville head office.
Paramedics, firefighters and police responded to the Laurier Boulevard building at 1:46 p.m. after the bus crashed through a portion of its western wall.
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While details remained scare, Brockville Police Sgt. Eric Ruigrok said two people were injured, the driver and a passenger. Both had been removed from the vehicle and taken to Brockville General Hospital.
Deputy Fire Chief Chris Paul said the driver suffered serious injuries and was transferred to Kingston General Hospital. It was unclear at press time whether the injuries were life-threatening.
Police were still in the early stages of investigating the cause of the collision.
“At this time we believe it was a medical issue with the driver that caused the collision,” said Ruigrok.
The driver and passenger were the only two occupants of the vehicle at the time, the sergeant added.
Paul confirmed the sergeant’s initial assessment of the cause, saying responding firefighters received such information from the passenger.
“The passenger witnessed the driver; he thought something was off,” said Paul.
While the passenger could converse with his rescuers, the driver was unconscious when removed from the bus, Paul confirmed.
“The bus just missed a main gas line by 15 feet,” he added.
The front hood of the para transit bus remained inside a hole in the west side brick wall of the Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit’s headquarters as police, firefighters and city workers continued dealing with the aftermath of the collision. An official from the city’s para transit contractor, Voyago, was also on scene.
The building is generally filled with health officials and visiting members of the public dropping in for various matters. The bus would have been entering off Laurier Boulevard, along a narrow driveway leading to the back parking lot and public entrance.
The building is located just next door to Brockville’s north-end fire station and an ambulance was thus nearby to respond.
Paul said two fire trucks responded with six firefighters.
Dr. Linna Li, acting medical officer of health at the health unit, confirmed none of the staffers working inside the building were hurt.
The collision happened in a storage area and no one was in the room at the time, added Li.
“The building is obviously affected and we are asking our staff to leave as a precaution,” she said.
The health unit office will also be closed to the public until the condition of the building is assessed, said Li.
Officials at Brockville’s building department were to assess the damage to the building.
Paul said both electricity and gas were cut off from the office building while officials assessed its structural integrity.
In an email to The Recorder and Times, Mayor Matt Wren said he was also awaiting further details.
“Our thoughts are with the people involved and we hope they will quickly recover,” wrote Wren. “Voyago is an important partner and provides a vital service in the community. We appreciate their very fast response to the situation.”
(This story will be updated when more details become available.)
Rzajac@postmedia.com