At 6:23 a.m. this morning the Columbia Fire Department responded to a non-injury accident involving a vehicle that struck a building at 1611 Paris Road.  Public Safety Joint Communications advised responding units that Columbia Police were on the scene requesting firefighters check for hazards related to the building or the vehicle.

Fire crews arrived at 6:28 a.m. to find a green two-door Lexus partially imbedded in the northeast corner of a single-story building at Paris and Sandifer. Firefighters found no significant hazards related to the vehicle but were concerned that the structural integrity of the building had been compromised. Firefighters requested that the City's office of Building and Site Development respond to the scene to assess the building.

Representatives from Building and Site Development determined that the load-bearing foundation had been damaged and asked firefighters to construct wooden shoring, or bracing, to support the corner of the building before the car could be safely removed. Using equipment and supplies from the Department's Technical Rescue cache, firefighters in the basement of the building constructed a double "T" vertical shore to support the first floor of the structure.  Once the shoring was in place, the vehicle was removed from the building without incident.

The building is part of the Tiger Tots Child Development Center and was unoccupied when the crash occurred.  Until repairs are made, the building cannot be occupied.  There were no injuries. Columbia Firefighters were on the scene for approximately two hours. Two fire engines and a rescue equipment trailer responded to the incident.