Unusual accident at Pioneer Square Photographs
I was coming home from a jaunt to the Frye Art Museum
(First Hill - and FREE) and whilst sitting in the back of the bus saw an unusual
assortment of emergency vehicles on Yesler Way and a wreck which was so
compelling I got off the bus just to stick my nose in it. I'll say upfront I'm
not sure of the physics of this accident - so far, even after looking at the
scene in person from three different angles and taking photos and examining the
photos I still can't figure out how that much force was generated. Check the
images out. This apparently occurred about 2:00 pm Sunday. I was busing by
about 2:30 pm and the recovery was well underway but no where near complete.
The humans involved were not around and as of 10:00 pm Sunday there's still no
mention on any of the local paper/TV websites - despite a TV camera crew being
planted at the Second and Yesler intersection.
Just when you
thought it was safe to go out in the
rain...
This is the view which caught my attention.
On foot and circling the perimeter of the accident scene. First Avenue and Second Avenue were blocked, as was
access to the ugly but now-famous "Sinking Ship" car garage. I tried to get up on the top deck to get a birds-eye
view down and some really good photos but was rebuffed by two Seattle Fire Department crewmembers who were
stationed at the entrance to the upper deck. "Can't go up here unless you've got a car parked." "What's going on?"
"We've got a few bottles of compressed gas still not secured. It's not safe. Have a nice day otherwise." Okay, so I
try the rest of the street-level views.
There were a relatively large group of tourists who were being shepherded around on one of the Pioneer Square
tours who had to sort-of squeeze by the yellow tape to get to their next attraction, hard-by the First Avenue
intersection here. The police were, as expected here in Seattle, polite and somewhat non-committal.
Looking up the south sidewalk on Yesler Way you can see what appears to be a silver Toyota or other fancy
car pushed up and hoisted against the garage. The front of the car and the instrument area of the driver's
compartment are beneath the cab of the flatbed truck, which is tipped on its starboard side.
That's a Seattle Public Utilities truck, the white one next to the wrecker. There was a huge amount of spilled
gasoline and the PUD folks were using sand and shovels to try and contain the gas as it rolled down the hill from
the wreck scene. Luckily (or not, for Elliott Bay and Puget Sound) it was raining off and on all day so the street
will be cleared of gasoline by Monday morning. Too bad this city, along with nearly every other city in this country,
has a combined sanitary sewer and rain-water catch-basin overflow system. There probably wasn't enough rain
to force the joint effluent to go straight into the Sound, but still! BTW, King County and Seattle sanitary waste
departments are working on strategies to keep storm water overflows from forcing untreated sewage and runoff
into the Bay and Sound. It's a multi-decade plan, though, and it only started to get real this past year.
This is as close as one could get on the First Avenue side. Notice the flatbed of the overturned truck - it's got a
hydraulic lift mechanism attached, pieces of which apparently came off (where and how?) and are lying on the Second
Avenue intersection along with the parked and damaged cars from the flying debris. Total number of damaged
vehicles was at least four - the destroyed Toyota (?), the car which is pushed against the Toyota, the truck, and
one car at the corner of Yesler and Second which has its rear smashed by a piece from the hydraulic lift.
Here's that piece of hydraulic lift and the smashed rear of a Ford which was parked and unattended at the corner
of Yesler Way and Second Avenue. The lady in blue, which I did notice but didn't pay any attention to while doing
my own scouting on this wreck, seemed to be following me around (as later learned from her appearance in a
bunch of photos I took at other spots around this scene).
This shows the scene from a slightly higher position just east of Second on Yesler Way. The police and fire
department personnel were augmented by the downtown courtesy patrol (on bikes - guy in yellow on right)
in trying to keep folks apprised but at some distance. I did get to see the tanks and my guess is they were
compressed air and not something explosive but I don't think they had a hazard team on site yet other than the
PUD crew with the sand and shovels to contain the dripping gasoline (my guess is it was from the truck).
This is from the same spot as the courtesy patrol bike guy was at and shows a bit of the debris from the wreck. There
was a lot of loose "car" and "truck" parts spread along Yesler. I do wonder what happened to the Toyota passengers -
unless it was a parked car which got destroyed and moved by the physics of the accident. It's possible that only the
truck had a human involved and the cab of the truck didn't suggest that the occupant would be in mortal danger, though
he/she would likely have lots of abrasions and possibly a few broken bones. Anyone in the Toyota, though, would
be damned lucky to escape with all their limbs so I'm hoping it was a misplaced parked car that just wound up being
a mechanical victim.
Sneaking my way up on the north sidewalk on Yesler I managed to get this shot of the truck bed and another
car which is pushed into the Toyota (I wasn't close enough to really get the model/make, but it LOOKED like a Camry).
Doing my best to climb up on some street furniture (a pedestrian barrier installed to funnel
folks toward the actual crosswalk at First Avenue) I did get a somewhat better view looking
east.
Before I got "shooed" away, this was the view from the alley which runs up the middle of the block between First
and Second Avenues on the block adjacent to Yesler Way. The hydraulic lift truck was also carrying a sign, which I'm
presuming it was on route to install when "whatever" happened. You can see the crumpled "Toyota" better in this
image. Suffice to say the hood was smashed down to the frame (engines crush too!) and the windshield was gone
with the front half of the roof being caved in as well. Were there someone in the car it IS possible they might have
escaped serious harm by ducking below the dashboard or lying flat in the front passenger/driver area.
A wide-angle view of the entire Yesler Way scene. The folks on the left were part of a tour group - guess they got more than their "paid-for"
value out of the tour today, eh?
A 180-degree panorama of Yesler Way at the intersection of First Avenue (left behind all the police cars). In this panorama, the actual
wreck scene is miniscule - this simply serves to show the evacuated nature of what would normally be a very busy street - busy with
both vehicles and pedestrians. The Pergola is above the white truck (Seattle Public Utilities - provided sand to sop up the spilled
gasoline).
Just another exciting day in the Emerald City. In the meantime, YOU be careful and drive safely - and for Pete's Sake,
be very, very conscious of your surroundings and what's going on around you - for at least a reasonable distance
on all sides - lest you be caught unawares by a runaway truck. It's the random accidents which are so terrible, and
avoiding the random accidents is what makes being aware a very useful trait to ingrain into one's subconscious.
Take care - and I really DO mean that.
chas
This is the view which caught my attention.
On foot and circling the perimeter of the accident scene. First Avenue and Second Avenue were blocked, as was
access to the ugly but now-famous "Sinking Ship" car garage. I tried to get up on the top deck to get a birds-eye
view down and some really good photos but was rebuffed by two Seattle Fire Department crewmembers who were
stationed at the entrance to the upper deck. "Can't go up here unless you've got a car parked." "What's going on?"
"We've got a few bottles of compressed gas still not secured. It's not safe. Have a nice day otherwise." Okay, so I
try the rest of the street-level views.
There were a relatively large group of tourists who were being shepherded around on one of the Pioneer Square
tours who had to sort-of squeeze by the yellow tape to get to their next attraction, hard-by the First Avenue
intersection here. The police were, as expected here in Seattle, polite and somewhat non-committal.
Looking up the south sidewalk on Yesler Way you can see what appears to be a silver Toyota or other fancy
car pushed up and hoisted against the garage. The front of the car and the instrument area of the driver's
compartment are beneath the cab of the flatbed truck, which is tipped on its starboard side.
That's a Seattle Public Utilities truck, the white one next to the wrecker. There was a huge amount of spilled
gasoline and the PUD folks were using sand and shovels to try and contain the gas as it rolled down the hill from
the wreck scene. Luckily (or not, for Elliott Bay and Puget Sound) it was raining off and on all day so the street
will be cleared of gasoline by Monday morning. Too bad this city, along with nearly every other city in this country,
has a combined sanitary sewer and rain-water catch-basin overflow system. There probably wasn't enough rain
to force the joint effluent to go straight into the Sound, but still! BTW, King County and Seattle sanitary waste
departments are working on strategies to keep storm water overflows from forcing untreated sewage and runoff
into the Bay and Sound. It's a multi-decade plan, though, and it only started to get real this past year.
This is as close as one could get on the First Avenue side. Notice the flatbed of the overturned truck - it's got a
hydraulic lift mechanism attached, pieces of which apparently came off (where and how?) and are lying on the Second
Avenue intersection along with the parked and damaged cars from the flying debris. Total number of damaged
vehicles was at least four - the destroyed Toyota (?), the car which is pushed against the Toyota, the truck, and
one car at the corner of Yesler and Second which has its rear smashed by a piece from the hydraulic lift.
Here's that piece of hydraulic lift and the smashed rear of a Ford which was parked and unattended at the corner
of Yesler Way and Second Avenue. The lady in blue, which I did notice but didn't pay any attention to while doing
my own scouting on this wreck, seemed to be following me around (as later learned from her appearance in a
bunch of photos I took at other spots around this scene).
This shows the scene from a slightly higher position just east of Second on Yesler Way. The police and fire
department personnel were augmented by the downtown courtesy patrol (on bikes - guy in yellow on right)
in trying to keep folks apprised but at some distance. I did get to see the tanks and my guess is they were
compressed air and not something explosive but I don't think they had a hazard team on site yet other than the
PUD crew with the sand and shovels to contain the dripping gasoline (my guess is it was from the truck).
This is from the same spot as the courtesy patrol bike guy was at and shows a bit of the debris from the wreck. There
was a lot of loose "car" and "truck" parts spread along Yesler. I do wonder what happened to the Toyota passengers -
unless it was a parked car which got destroyed and moved by the physics of the accident. It's possible that only the
truck had a human involved and the cab of the truck didn't suggest that the occupant would be in mortal danger, though
he/she would likely have lots of abrasions and possibly a few broken bones. Anyone in the Toyota, though, would
be damned lucky to escape with all their limbs so I'm hoping it was a misplaced parked car that just wound up being
a mechanical victim.
Sneaking my way up on the north sidewalk on Yesler I managed to get this shot of the truck bed and another
car which is pushed into the Toyota (I wasn't close enough to really get the model/make, but it LOOKED like a Camry).
Doing my best to climb up on some street furniture (a pedestrian barrier installed to funnel
folks toward the actual crosswalk at First Avenue) I did get a somewhat better view looking
east.
Before I got "shooed" away, this was the view from the alley which runs up the middle of the block between First
and Second Avenues on the block adjacent to Yesler Way. The hydraulic lift truck was also carrying a sign, which I'm
presuming it was on route to install when "whatever" happened. You can see the crumpled "Toyota" better in this
image. Suffice to say the hood was smashed down to the frame (engines crush too!) and the windshield was gone
with the front half of the roof being caved in as well. Were there someone in the car it IS possible they might have
escaped serious harm by ducking below the dashboard or lying flat in the front passenger/driver area.
A wide-angle view of the entire Yesler Way scene. The folks on the left were part of a tour group - guess they got more than their "paid-for"
value out of the tour today, eh?
A 180-degree panorama of Yesler Way at the intersection of First Avenue (left behind all the police cars). In this panorama, the actual
wreck scene is miniscule - this simply serves to show the evacuated nature of what would normally be a very busy street - busy with
both vehicles and pedestrians. The Pergola is above the white truck (Seattle Public Utilities - provided sand to sop up the spilled
gasoline).
Just another exciting day in the Emerald City. In the meantime, YOU be careful and drive safely - and for Pete's Sake,
be very, very conscious of your surroundings and what's going on around you - for at least a reasonable distance
on all sides - lest you be caught unawares by a runaway truck. It's the random accidents which are so terrible, and
avoiding the random accidents is what makes being aware a very useful trait to ingrain into one's subconscious.
Take care - and I really DO mean that.
chas
Posted: Sun - March 20, 2005 at 10:33 PM
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Published On: Jul 04, 2005 05:41 PM
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Published On: Jul 04, 2005 05:41 PM