Driver injured when garbage truck loses brakes, shears off front of Etna home; occupants escape injury

The occupants of a home in Etna, including two toddlers, escaped injury when the front of their home was sheered off by a garbage truck that lost its brakes while coming down a steep hill.

The truck was traveling down Kittanning Street shortly before 4 p.m. on Tuesday and crossed the intersection onto Spang Way before hitting the last house along the short road and flipping onto its side.

The driver of the truck was transported to a local hospital for treatment of injuries, according to authorities.

An Etna police officer who arrived on scene moments after the crash said the driver and a male occupant were out of the vehicle and walking around.

Traffic along the road and its approaches was snarled for several hours while firefighters worked to build support columns to hold up the second floor of the building.

Michelle Kelly, who lives in the home with her daughter, Melissa, and her two toddler grandchildren, said she could not believe the older of the two children was able to escape without injury.

“My 4-year-old grandson was sitting on a futon in the downstairs living room when the truck hit,” she said. “He was only a few feet away from where the truck knocked out the corner of the house.”

Kelly said her daughter and 2-year-old granddaughter were in a second-floor room directly above the area of the house that suffered the most damage.

Firefighters set up a makeshift wood shop at the scene to fashion wood posts into columns to support the building.

The police officer, who declined to be identified, said the only other option the driver had was to drive onto Route 8 and risk colliding with vehicles traveling through the intersection.