Driver crashes into North Gower store
The cleanup continues at a family-owned business in North Gower after a driver crashed through the wall in the middle of the night.
Emergency crews were called to the Perkins Home Building Centre near the corner of Roger Stevens Drive and Fourth Line Road in North Gower at around 12:45 a.m. Sunday when a driver crashed through the east wall of the building.
Ottawa firefighters had to extricate the driver and had him out of the wreckage by 1:30 a.m. Ottawa paramedics say the man in his 20s was taken to the hospital in serious condition with injuries to his head and legs.
No one else was hurt in the crash.
Crews from Service Master Lanark were called in to help with the cleanup Sunday morning.
General Manager Mark Perkins was out of town for the long weekend when he learned that a driver had crashed through the wall.
"I don't think it's really sunk in yet. It doesn't seem real," he said, adding that no one was in the store when the crash happened.
The store is normally closed on Sundays. Perkins said the car, which had gone about 20 feet into the store, was removed from the building by 10 a.m. He hopes to have the store reopened by Tuesday. In the meantime, neighbours have been stopping by to see if they can help.
"The sidewalk's been full of people asking if they can lend a hand and our phone has been blowing up asking if they can help out," he told CTV News Ottawa.
Perkins Home Building Centre, known for decades as Perkins Lumber, has been a staple in North Gower since the 1930s.
"This place is an institution. It’s been here 70 years and we all know everyone who works here," said a passerby on Sunday. "When you see something like that, the first thing is to make sure everyone is all right."
Why the driver crashed into the store is currently unknown. Ottawa police are investigating but have not commented on any factors that may have led to the crash.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
What do weight loss drugs mean for a diet industry built on eating less and exercising more?
Recent injected drugs like Wegovy and its predecessor, the diabetes medication Ozempic, are reshaping the health and fitness industries.
He replaced Mickey Mantle. Now baseball's oldest living major leaguer is turning 100
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.
What a urologist wants you to know about male infertility
When opposite sex couples are trying and failing to get pregnant, the attention often focuses on the woman. That’s not always the case.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
It could take years to catch up on child vaccinations in Ontario post-pandemic
Ontario is still playing catch up on routine vaccinations that many children missed during the pandemic and public health officials are warning that it could take years to solve the problem.