Although they're in the midst of an unplanned remodeling project, the people at Four Star Construction in Superior are counting their blessings after a Saturday morning accident carved a gap in their building.
"We're surviving," said Troy Nelson, 40, a carpenter for the company at
7500 Tower Ave. "It's just a good thing that no one got killed. Everything else is replaceable."
The accident occurred at 8:37 a.m. Saturday when a pickup truck left Tower Avenue traveling at 55 mph, crashed through one wall of the building and came to rest in the far wall. The 80-year-old driver was taken to St. Mary's Hospital in Superior. As of Monday afternoon, the Douglas County Sheriff's Department hadn't released the driver's name, but Superior firefighters who responded to the accident said his injuries didn't appear to be severe.
Twenty-four hours earlier, the situation could have been much different. At 8:30 on Friday morning, some clients were in the building, and the clients and Four Star personnel were standing in the area where the truck entered the building, Nelson said.
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Nelson didn't have a damage estimate on the building, but restoration was well under way. On Saturday, about 10 to 12 people came to remove the debris and an electrician who lives near the building came to do some rewiring.
Computers and fax machines were damaged and paperwork was disrupted, Nelson said. Temporary offices would have to be set up. But Four Star Construction, which employs five people in the office and 18 to 20 in the field, was functioning.
"We just hope the guy is OK," Nelson said of the pickup truck's driver.
