Vehicle rams into downtown Ottawa apartment building

Ottawa paramedics say no one was injured after a vehicle damaged a downtown apartment building Tuesday afternoon.

No one was hurt when a vehicle crashed into a downtown Ottawa apartment building Tuesday afternoon.

An Ottawa Paramedic Service spokesperson tells CTV News Ottawa that first responders were called to Metcalfe Street near Cooper Street at approximately 4:55 p.m. The vehicle struck near the front entrance of the building and damaged a basement window and the exterior brick façade.

Ottawa Fire Services district chief Dan Aupry says a minor two-vehicle collision caused one of the cars to jump the curb before hitting the structure.

“What we’re doing now is shoring the exterior brick to make sure it doesn’t fall out and it doesn’t become more of a danger to the public,” Aupry said at the scene.

“We want to make sure the building is secure before we leave the scene.”

In an update on Wednesday morning, Ottawa Fire Services spokesperson Nick Defazio said the Structural Collapse Team determined the “structural integrity of the wall had been compromised.”

“Before removing the vehicle, firefighters disconnected its battery and applied absorbent to a fuel leak to mitigate any fire risk,” Defazio said.

“Once these hazards were controlled, the Structural Collapse Team began work on a two-post shore to support the building façade directly above the window where the vehicle had made contact.”

Firefighters installed a “double raker shore” to prevent the façade from falling forward onto the sidewalk.

“The collision had dislodged a section of cinder block that had been supporting the corner near the front entrance, which caused the building’s front door to shift out of square,” Defazio said.

Crews from the City of Ottawa arrived last night to fence off the area while the building is repaired.

This was the third time in less than two weeks the Structural Collapse Team was deployed to stabilize a building following an incident. Last week, a car crashed into the Beer Store at College Square.

With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Shaun Vardon

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