A red sedan ran off the road and hit Waco Fire Department’s administrative headquarters at 25th Street Station, knocking a hole in the wall and catching fire.
“The alarm came in at 3:30 a.m. this morning,” Patrick Veselka, deputy chief of emergency operations for Waco Fire Department, said Monday. “Our response time was very quick, because Fire Station No. 6 is right here.”
The fire station is connected by a breezeway to the administrative headquarters. The $5.2 million complex opened in March 2022, with a sign and facade paying homage to the old 25th Street Theatre that was demolished.
Firefighters early Monday immediately began to render aid to the driver and put out fire that had started in the car. Some smoke damage resulted inside and outside the building, Veselka said.
“Paramedics came and transported the driver away,” Veselka said. “The investigation of the driver and the wreck is up to Waco Police Department.”
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The driver was transported to an area hospital and suffered minor injuries, a police spokesperson said Monday. No one else was injured and no arrests had been made at the time the spokesperson responded Monday afternoon.
A hole in the side of the administrative headquarters building could be seen about 5 feet wide and 8 feet tall. Veselka said the repairs to the building were up to the city’s facilities department. A remediation contractor was on site before lunch, but the facilities department was not able to give an estimate Monday afternoon on cost or when repairs might be made.
“I’m glad it was 3:30 in the morning and not 3:30 in the aftenoon that this happened,” Veselka said. “We have a lot of community groups hold meetings in the room the driver hit. One of them could have been injured.”
