"What saved our lives was the brick fireplace . . . It sounded like a bomb going off. It was quite a shock. It moved the whole brick wall in five inches," Michael Cayea said.
Beverly and William Smith, both 75, stand outside their home at 1231 Main St., Warren, which was damaged Tuesday night when Kevin Bliss, 29, of Warren, took out their living room wall with his sport utility vehicle.WARREN - Beverly and William Smith were home watching the Red Sox game Tuesday night when a car slammed into their Main Street home, taking out their living room wall and knocking the television into Beverly's lap.
"It's a godsend. I don't know how they didn't get hurt," the Smiths' daughter, Patty A. Hewitt, of Ware, said on Wednesday, as she was helping to clean the damaged property.
The Jeep sport utility vehicle, operated by Kevin Bliss, 29, last known address 948 Main St., then slammed into the house next door at 1235 Main St., pushing in the outside wall.
Police Chief Bruce D. Spiewakowski said Bliss was charged with operating with a suspended license, and also had a warrant out for his arrest from East Brookfield District Court for failure to pay fines. He was to be arraigned Wednesday at the court; arraignment information was not available.
Damage can be seen outside 1235 Main St. in Warren, the second house that Kevin Bliss, 29, of Warren, struck on Tuesday night.Spiewakowski said the incident happened just before 8:30 p.m. Bliss was headed west on Route 67 when he crossed over the line, took out the Bridge Street sign, hit the Smith's house at 1231 Main St. and continued into the next house at 1235 Main St. Spiewakowski said Bliss told police that a truck swerved into his lane, but officers couldn't locate it.
The Smiths, both 75, could not stay at their house after the accident because the electricity had to be turned off, and William Smith uses an oxygen tank. Their son, Bill Smith, said he had just dropped by to check on them, then the accident happened.
"I thought the oxygen tank blew up . . . I walked into the room and the TV was on my mother's lap," he said. "She was really calm about it."
"It blew the insulation through the walls. The whole house was nothing but a cloud of dust," he added.
Beverly Smith said the crash was "like a flash." William Smith said the crash prevented him from watching the rest of the ball game.
This house at 1231 Main St., Warren, was damaged Tuesday night when a 29-year-old Warren resident, Kevin Bliss, slammed into it.They went to their neighbor's house next door afterward, even though it also was damaged, and stayed with a relative that night. Michael V. Cayea said that he, his wife Caroline, and two children, ages 17 and 13, were sitting in their living room trying to find something to watch on television when the Jeep crashed into the outside wall.
"What saved our lives was the brick fireplace . . . It sounded like a bomb going off. It was quite a shock. It moved the whole brick wall in five inches," Cayea said.
Cayea said he was told he has up to $12,000 in damage, and wonders how the driver managed to hit both houses with such force.
Cayea, who buys gold and silver, joked that it was a customer eager to sell something.