DETROIT – A speeding driver slammed into a home on Detroit’s west side Sunday, igniting a fire that left a family with nothing.
Detroit police say the crash happened around 4 p.m. at the corner of Puritan and Harlow, not far from Southfield Highway and Grand River.
According to police, a driver in his 20s was speeding when he sideswiped another car and drove straight into the home. The car also struck a gas meter, which sparked the fire.
Doorbell camera video from a neighbor captured the car inside the home shortly before both the car and the house caught fire.
Everyone inside the home managed to get out safely.
Neighbors rushed in to help
Rochelle Tucker, who has lived on the street for just a few months, said her daughter first alerted her to the crash.
“My daughter came downstairs and said, ‘Ma, did you hear that?’ And we come outside and we see the car actually in the house,” Tucker said.
Tucker rushed over and found the driver still trapped inside the burning vehicle.
“I see the young man still in the car and I’m like, ‘OK guys, you got to hurry up and get him out’ — the car was on fire,” she said.
She said a group of men who had been playing basketball nearby ran over and helped pull the driver to safety.
“Then they carried him to the house across the street and by the time I turned back around the house was in flames,” Tucker said.
Police said the driver was taken to the hospital with minor injuries and ticketed for careless driving.
Witnesses told Local 4 the driver was going so fast the car went airborne, leaving only tow truck tire marks at the scene.
“Just grateful that everybody walked away with their lives,” Tucker said.
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