Heavy Rescue Team Works to Stabilize Bank After Crash

The City of Madison Fire Department's Heavy Rescue Team was at the scene of a traffic crash this afternoon after a passenger car slammed into a limestone pillar at the Chase Bank on the corner of Winnebago St. and Atwood Avenue. The crash occurred at about 1:15 this afternoon. The driver was headed west on Atwood and missed the turn onto Winnebago. The car hit the 16-foot limestone pillar, dislodging it, but not toppling it. With the pillar knocked aside, a scrolled cornice at the top of the pillar came crashing down through the windshield of the car. Fortunately for the driver, the cornice landed in the front passenger seat, just inches from where the driver was sitting. The driver was transported to Meriter Hospital by Medic 8 with what were believed to be non-life-threatening injuries. The Heavy Rescue Team remained for several hours, first to secure the pillar to the structure, and later to shore up the front canopy of the building where the pillar had been. A crane was brought to the site to remove the damaged pillar. The Department's Heavy Urban Rescue Team (HURT) was established in 2007. Any emergency requiring technical rescue techniques, such as confined space rescue, high/low angle rope rescue, trench collapse rescue, or building collapse rescue will initiate the team's response. Ironically, a similar crash took out another of the bank's pillars just a few years ago.