1 injured when car strikes city home

Published 5:30 pm Wednesday, February 21, 2018

First responders were called to a city residence Wednesday morning after a vehicle crashed into the home’s porch.

Officers with the Elizabethton Police Department, firefighters of the Elizabethton Fire Department and members of the Carter County Rescue Squad responded to 301 S. Sycamore Street on a report of a motor vehicle accident with injuries. When the first responders arrived on the scene, they found a car had crashed into the front porch of the home severely damaging it and pushing over structural supports. The collision also pushed a brick column over into the side of a car which was parked at the residence.

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The male driver of the car, whose name has not yet been released by the Elizabethton Police Department, was injured in the crash and transported to a local hospital for treatment. No one inside the home was injured in the accident.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation at this time, according to EPD Cpl. James Deese, who is conducting the investigation.

The car was traveling southbound on Sycamore Street when it veered off the right side of the road and struck the porch.

Deese said the man driving the car reported he has a medical condition that requires him to use an oxygen tank. The driver said he believes he was not getting enough oxygen and may have passed out at the wheel.

After the man’s vehicle was removed from the scene, firefighters and members of the Carter County Rescue Squad worked to help shore up the structural support on the corner of the porch struck by the car to keep the roof from collapsing in that area. Firefighters cordoned the area off with caution tape.

A portion of Sycamore Street was closed off from Hattie Avenue to Johnson Avenue while emergency crews worked to clear the scene and shore up the structural supports.