An 82-year-old Philomath man experiencing a medical emergency while driving east on Applegate Street left the roadway and crashed into the front entrance area of a dentist office on Friday afternoon, emergency responders reported.
The Philomath Police Department and Philomath Fire and Rescue were dispatched to the site of the crash at 4:15 p.m. Jan. 30. The driver was transported via Corvallis Fire Department ambulance to Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center. Police said the man’s wife, the only passenger, sustained minor injuries.
The police department’s preliminary investigation determined that the driver lost consciousness, which led to the crash.
The building on the southeast corner of Applegate and South 13th serves as the location of Daniel P. Rooke Family Dentistry. According to the business’s website, the dentist office is closed on Fridays.
Photos of the crash scene show that a 2007 Toyota Corolla hit the north side of the building and came to a stop under a portico short of the public entryway and in front of a private entrance. Extensive damage can be seen, including framing and foundational elements, a large window and support posts and beams. A landscaping bed near the front of the entrance appears to have also been impacted as well.
Philomath Fire and Rescue’s response included eight personnel in an engine and two command vehicles. Crews helped with the crash site’s cleanup.
The incident led into a busy weekend for the fire department. Firefighters responded to reports of two structure fires on Saturday — although one along Bellfountain Road turned out to be a neighbor barbecuing and the other near Bellfountain and Alpine Road was a burn pile. In both cases, Fire and Rescue’s responses were canceled prior to arrival.
Then on Sunday, emergency medical crews were dispatched to the scenes of separate crashes on Highway 20 in the early afternoon and evening. On the first call at 1:04 p.m., no crash could be located with the incident reportedly occurring in the vicinity of milepost 34, which is just inside the county line east of Burnt Woods. On the second call at 8:41 p.m., about 2 miles west of Philomath, the vehicle was found but with no occupant, Fire and Rescue reported.