Most of us worry about the occasional squirrel getting into the attic. A family in northwest Oklahoma City had a much bigger visitor Monday morning: an entire semi-truck.
Just after 10 a.m., a westbound tractor-trailer on the Northwest Expressway veered across the road into oncoming traffic, then kept going. It plowed through four backyards before finally coming to rest in a spare bedroom near NW 70th Street and Meridian Avenue. Two adults and a child were inside the home at the time.
Remarkably, none of them were hurt.
The driver wasn’t as lucky, though it could have been far worse. He was pulled from the truck and taken to the hospital with minor injuries and is reportedly in stable condition, according to Koco News 5. What caused the truck to cross into oncoming lanes in the first place hasn’t been released yet, so we’ll leave the guessing to the internet commenters for now.
As if punching a hole through someone’s house wasn’t dramatic enough, the truck also struck a gas meter on its way in, triggering a leak that forced crews to evacuate homes along the street. Oklahoma Natural Gas crews worked to shut things down, gas and power were cut in the area, and the eastbound lanes of the Northwest Expressway stayed closed for hours while everyone sorted out the mess.
A House That Took a Hit, and Kept Its People Safe
There’s something to be said for how a home held together under that kind of impact. A loaded semi crossing four backyards is not a small thing, and yet the people inside walked away without a scratch. Officials say crews are waiting for the gas leak to be fully resolved before attempting to pull the truck out of the house, after which they’ll begin shoring up the structure. That’s a polite way of saying the place needs serious repairs before anyone sleeps there again.
We’d guess that the spare bedroom is going to need more than a coat of paint. Still, walls and drywall can be replaced. People can’t. Whatever this family’s Monday morning was supposed to look like, it wasn’t watching an 18-wheeler cross their fence line and finish up in the guest room.
Okay Ending, Considering…
This one is a good reminder that a semi-truck is not just a big vehicle, it’s tens of thousands of pounds moving at highway speed, and when something goes wrong up front, there’s very little room for error before it becomes somebody else’s problem entirely.
We’re glad this story ends with everyone safe rather than something far worse. Investigators will sort out exactly what happened behind the wheel, and hopefully that answer helps prevent the next one.
In the meantime, the Northwest Expressway earned itself a very unwanted new landmark, and one Oklahoma City family got a story they’ll be telling for years, whether they wanted it or not.