Last month, a logging truck plowed into Catherine Palmer’s apartment building.
“It was the scariest night of my life,” Palmer said.
It happened on October 24th around 1:00 AM
She remembers hearing the crackling explosion of an electrical transformer a split second before the logging truck went through the building below her.
“I heard it hit the house and thought there had been an earthquake.
Catherine Palmer says her life has been difficult since a logging truck crashed into her apartment building. It destroyed much of what she owned and forced her to move. (Submitted by Catherine Palmer)
The single mother said she raced to make sure her five-year-old was OK. She then looked outside to see a large truck had pulled into the flats below hers.
The impact blew siding and insulation into her yard and twisted the frame of the building.
“My neighbor was at the door with her two babies screaming,” Palmer said. “They were trapped in their apartment. The door had shifted and they couldn’t get out, so I broke down their door.’
WATCH | A log truck was pulled from a block of flats after a spectacular crash:
Then and Now: Scene of Logging Truck Crash in NB
Last month, 12 residents were forced to relocate after a logging truck crashed into an apartment complex on Route 8 in New Brunswick
No one was killed that night, but every day since has been a battle for the 12 people who once lived there.
Palmer says she lost almost everything she owned that night. When dawn broke, she managed to get back inside to collect some clothes and find her son’s baby record. She also managed to find her cats and they all moved in with her parents.
“The Red Cross showed up the next day,” Palmer said. “There was nothing for them to do. The transport company didn’t get in touch and I got my damage deposit back from my landlord but that was it.’
But Palmer still considers herself lucky to have since found a new apartment nearby.
No one was seriously injured in the crash, but several apartments were destroyed. (Shane Fowler/CBC)
Andrea Munn also thinks she was lucky. When that logging truck hit the building, it pushed her living room into the ceiling. It was her front door that Palmer had to break down to free her, along with Meng’s husband and two young children.
She said the weeks after the crash were “day by day”.
“It was chaotic,” Munn said. “Chaotic, but good… in a weird way, sort of. I don’t even know how to describe it, honestly.”
Andrea Munn says she was just falling asleep when the delivery truck crashed into the side of her building. She quickly escaped with her husband and two young children and says she’s thankful no one was hurt. (Shane Fowler/CBC)
She and her family had to move in with her in-laws. She has renters insurance, but expects it will take a long time to settle the claim and find her own place.
“I didn’t expect anything from the shipping company itself or the landlord’s insurance because their responsibility is to their building,” Munn said.
She says it was a challenge to explain to her eldest son that “our house is broken.”
“He just … stopped wanting to go home because at that point he realizes that we don’t have our old home to go to and that we’re living with someone else now,” Mun said. “I think for the most part [the children] are doing really well.”
The entire front half of a delivery truck was wedged inside the building, holding down the second floor. (Shane Fowler/CBC)
Munn says most of the help they’ve received has been from local churches and the Boystown Lions Club.
She’s worried about finding another place to stay given the recent rent increases in New Brunswick. She expects they will be living with her in-laws for at least a few months.
“We’re just praying and hoping that God will do something for us soon,” Mun said.
Blackout
Shelby Dorcas was watching TV in her ground-floor apartment when her power went out a second before “it felt like a plane that had crashed.” Pictures popped off the wall, and she says she instinctively covered her face as the logging truck came within feet of crashing into her living room.
Although the truck ended up not damaging her apartment, the electrocution destroyed everything electronic, including the television she was watching.
She was forced to move out the next day.
“It was rough,” Dorkus said. “It’s a weird thing. You feel lucky to be alive, but at the same time it’s the worst thing that’s ever happened.”
Shelby Dorcas lost all her electronics due to the electrocution that occurred when the truck crashed into her building. (Submitted by Shelby Dorcas)
Dorcas said she was able to get some money for food from the Red Cross, and donations from churches and the Lions Club helped. She moved in with her mother for a while before finding a place to rent until spring.
But she is afraid to compete for a new apartment.
“I have a feeling it’s going to be the same again in May,” Dorcas said.
The insurance claim is pending, the truck owner says
When contacted by the CBC, one of the co-owners of the trucking company described the situation as an accident and that they, too, were struggling.
“I wish this didn’t happen,” said Susan Willis, co-owner of JA Willis Contracting, which owned the logging truck. “It was an accident.”
Willis says the truck was destroyed and was “literally in pieces.” An insurance claim is pending.
She said she was amazed the driver, an employee of her company, survived the crash.
“It was a very small space, a very small space that he was left sitting in,” Willis said.
On the day of the accident, energy teams are working on site. The logging truck was pulled from the apartment building just last weekend. (Shane Fowler/CBC)
The logging truck was pulled from the apartment building just last weekend. The structure still stands next to Route 8. Part of it is demolished and the rest is boarded up.
“I contacted the driver the day it happened and just said I’m glad he’s OK,” Dorcas said.
“It’s a traumatic experience for everyone.
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