Fire Ignites After Car Slams Into Historic Hatboro Building: Officials
Follow CBSPHILLY Facebook | Twitter
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Pa. (CBS) – A fire erupted after a car slammed into a historic Hatboro building Saturday, officials say. Fire crews arrived at the Pennypack Mill, formerly known as the Old Mill, at 18 Horsham Road just after 3:50 Saturday afternoon.
Scary moments for an Eyewitness News viewer who captured a video of the car engulfed in flames after crashing into the town's oldest building.
"A mother and her young son came around the corner and somehow lost control," said Pennypack Mill owner Lynda Clauser.
"I screamed what's going on and the lady screamed, I'm sorry it's my car and at that moment the car shot up in flames," said Claudibel Rodriguez, an event planner for Pennypack Mill.
The woman and her son escaped in time as fire crews rushed to quickly douse the flames.
"It's amazing from the flames that really the only thing that was damaged was the bathroom downstairs and part of the upstairs," said Clauser.
Fire Crews Battle 2 Alarm Warehouse Fire In Crescentville
The historic Pennypack Mill dates back nearly 300 years.
"It's had some tough times," said Clauser.
Lynda Clauser bought the building in 2013.
She converted the longtime restaurant to an events space in September.
She lives nearby and arrived to see the flames.
"It's just the building has been through a lot of floods, everything. And, it's just a great building. It's amazing," added Clauser.
At the time of the crash, events coordinator Claudibel Rodriguez was at the building setting up for a 50th birthday party which is now being moved to a relative's home.
"Nobody got hurt, that's all you care about," said Clauser.
"I thought it was going to be the worst but thank God that it doesn't look like we have a lot of damage so I'm just really grateful you know that God just held back the fire," added Rodriguez.
