CAMAS — Aaron Fallin was relaxing to music on the couch Sunday afternoon when a motorist crashed into his home, pushing the back wall forward and sending a 65-inch television onto the floor just a foot from him.
“I couldn’t believe what I saw,” Fallin said.
“Our house just shook,” said Fallin’s wife, Rita, of their home at 3031 N.W. 47th Drive.
The crash happened about 3:30 p.m. None of the six family members was hurt.
The driver, Janice Dossett, 56, who lives about a mile way, also was not hurt.
Aaron Fallin ran to the car but said, “There was no way to get her out because she was wedged into the house.”
Neighbors also were trying to see if Dossett was OK. One man asked her to turn off the car’s ignition, fearing a possible fire.
Dossett told police Officer Brent Mayhugh she said was OK, and a Camas medical crew responded and found she was not hurt. Her 2001 Oldsmobile Alero was towed.
Camas Sgt. David Chaney said Dossett became distracted by something behind her, “took her eyes off the road and then crashed.” He said she was not driving while impaired.
Her car veered off Leadbetter Drive in the Camas Meadows neighborhood, crashed through a back fence and into the rear wall of the house and its fireplace. The television was on the fireplace mantle.
“I was in the kitchen putting the dishes away and dinner was in the oven,” Rita Fallin said. “It was quick. It was scary enough that I ducked out of instinct. Aaron saw the wall coming in, and the TV coming in on him.
“The lights went off, and the kids came running from upstairs.”
Vanessa Fallin, 17, Keelin Fallin, 12, Dylan MacDonald, 7, and Ava Fallin, 6, were all home.
“Life can change in a heartbeat,” said Rita, adding she was grateful no one was hurt.
She said the year hasn’t been the best as she lost her job in August and “we’ve had a lot of personal struggles.”
The family decided to stay in the house Sunday night after the electricity was restored.
Howard Talbitzer, whose firm developed the approximately 150-house subdivision, responded from his Camas home and talked to the Fallins, his renters.
Talbitzer said a crew would begin repairing the house today. He estimated there was at least $50,000 damage.
Asked how long it would take to repair the house, Talbitzer said, “that’s gonna take, probably, a couple of weeks, at least. That whole back wall is gone.”
