‘Wrong place, right time’
Courtesy of Jessica Barnhart
The owner of the Hopwood Child Care Center said Sunday night’s storm probably saved several children from being seriously injured when a car crashed into one of the playrooms on Monday morning.
“The storm definitely slowed parents down. They were dropping their kids off later than usual, so we had less children than we normally do,” Jessica Barnhart said.
At around 7:50 a.m. Monday, a four-door sedan driven by an 81-year-old woman crashed into one of the classrooms at the center on Hopwood Fairchance Road, according to state police. Trooper Rocco Gagliardi said video surveillance showed the woman entering the parking lot at a “slow speed” and then accelerating into the building.
A Fayette County 911 supervisor said the woman refused medical attention.
There were 24 children and seven employees inside, and none of them were injured, Barnhart said. She emphasized how fortunate that was, given that the area the car hit was in the front of a classroom.
“The kids always play right by the window with the dollhouse and they weren’t there this morning. We just got lucky,” she said.
After the vehicle struck the building, Barnhart said she and the staff members got the children outside and took them to another building on the school’s property as a precautionary measure against potential hazards such as fire or structural instability.
“Luckily none of that happened, but we took the kids out of the building right away to make sure they were in a safe area, and then we called their parents and had them come get them,” Barnhart said.
Neither the driver of the vehicle nor a child passenger were injured, according to Fayette County 911. State police have not yet said what caused the accident but an investigation is still ongoing.
Dean And Shaffer Construction was on site shortly after the collision repairing the outside of the building, with the hope of having the school back and running by Wednesday, the owner said.
As for now, Barnhart and her staff are just relieved that everyone was alright.
“People have to make sure they drive slowly around school properties,” she said. “We’re just glad no one got hurt, and we’re lucky. It really was a wrong place, right time type of situation.”