Steel coil crashes into Fayette County house after tractor-trailer loses load

FAYETTE CITY, Pa. — A house was struck by one of several large steel coils that fell off a tractor-trailer Wednesday morning in Fayette County.

The truck lost its load shortly before noon, sending the coils that weighed several tons each rolling down a street in Fayette City.

“I was cleaning the snow off of my wife’s car down here, and then all of a sudden, bang! And these big coils came rolling down the road,” Michael Hatalowich said.

One of the coils rolled straight toward Hatalowich’s house, but fell over just in time. The homeowner down the street, however, was not as fortunate.

Frank Orbin said a coil ricocheted off a neighbor’s car before it crashed into the front porch of his home, where his wife is recovering from knee surgery and has been sleeping on the first floor.

“Bang! The whole house shuddered. I came out, there was steel coil tubing, like a giant Slinky, on the porch,” Orbin said.

Fortunately, the coil didn’t crash through the wall and his wife was not hurt.

“We are glad everybody is OK,” Orbin said.

Crews called to tow away the coils, another of which crashed into and broke a pole, said each one weighed between 8,000 and 10,000 pounds. In all, the coils weighed about 50,000 pounds.

“God was with everybody down here,” Hatalowich said.

Cox Media Group