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Search On For Suspect Who Crashed Into Manteca Fire Station

MANTECA (CBS13) — Two Manteca firefighters narrowly escaped serious injuries when a car crashed into their station house on Sunday.

At first, they thought they were being attacked. Now, police in Manteca are searching for the driver.

"Why is this person running into a station that is 100 feet off the road?" Battalion Chief Dave Marques asked. "It's not something that would normally happen or ever really has happened."

The crash happened at around 1:30 a.m. Sunday morning. The crew had just returned from a medical call.

"I was in the kitchen at the printer getting some call information heard a crash," Fire Captain Travis Gooch said.

At the time, five firefighters were on shift. Gooch says two were working inside the bay.

The firefighters thought the worst when the car struck the bay doors a second time.

"At the time, we didn't know if it was intentional...if the guy was going to come in and try to fight us, attack us with a knife or gun and once we saw they were trying to leave we were like 'Okay this was an accident,'" Gooch said.

The late-model grey or silver Toyota sedan took off down Union Road leaving the fire station with serious damage.

"Obviously, the lower portion of this door needs to be completely replaced," Marques said. "So, you're looking at several thousand dollars and that's if the track and that doesn't have to be fixed as well."

Swipe through below for more photos.

fire station crash 1 – City of Manteca
(credit: City of Manteca)
fire station crash 2– City of Manteca
(credit: City of Manteca)
manteca fire station crash
(credit: City of Manteca)

"I've never had a vehicle into our station," Gooch said. "So glad no one got hurt."

Everyone at firehouse 242 is breathing a sigh of relief because if the door would have been open, it would have been a different story

"The guys that were there were pretty shook up," Marques said. "Actually, they were a couple of feet from where the glass flew in. If the door had been up, one of them would have been struck by the car."

"Our engineer Austin...he was standing right by the front bumper," Gooch said. "It was pretty close to him."

The crew continued to work all night. Service was never compromised.

They know how the crash happened, just not why.

"I think he either had a medical emergency or was under the influence and just decided to leave," Gooch said. "That's what I think."

Manteca Police are reviewing traffic cameras and looking for that silver or grey Toyota Sedan with front end damage. The driver has not been found

The door will reportedly be replaced at the end of the week.

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