Fire hall, truck damaged by runaway car

The car, a 2000 Dodge Dakota, was headed south on Church Street when Manning moved up behind it and hit his emergency lights.

Almost as soon as Manning did so, just north of Lincoln Street, three occupants of the car bailed out and ran.

According to Kindler, the driver tried to stop the vehicle to exit the car, but didn't get it into park and the vehicle started rolling.

"Rolling downhill a block and a half, it picked up speed," Kindler explained.

It went through a corner of Fire Chief Tom Smith's property, then went through the parking lot where the city vehicles are parked. The vehicle struck an air compressor and spun it around.

Continuing on, the Dakota plowed into one of the four bay doors of the White Salmon Fire Hall.

"It nailed the door dead center," said Mayor Roger Holen.

The garage door was buckled, its windows were shattered, and the door's track was bent, rendering it inoperable.

The newest fire truck in the Fire Department's fleet -- a 1996 Freightliner -- also sustained serous damage when the Dakota rammed its bumper and pushed the bay door into it.

"There was $1,500-$1,600 in damage to the truck," said Chief Smith. "It hit pretty hard. The fire truck's bumper was pushed into the tire, and the bumper had to be pulled before it could even roll. The Dakota wedged in under the fire truck, and it took about an hour or hour and a half to pry it apart."

Three boys who jumped from the car -- ages 13, 14, and 15 -- were detained and transported to the jail in Goldendale.

"They had a preliminary appearance on Monday," said Klickitat County Prosecuting Attorney Tim O'Neill. "All three were charged with taking a motor vehicle without permission. One was additionally charged with malicious mischief in the first degree and felony elude. They were released to their parents' custody and are under house arrest on electronic home monitoring."

Law enforcement authorities declined to release the names of the three because they are all juveniles.

Smith said it would be about a week before the truck could be repaired.

"It will take a week or so for parts, then the truck will have to go to Portland to be repaired. It'll be two or three days to get it down there and get it back."

Smith estimated that the overhead door would cost at least $800-$900.

"The whole thing has to be replaced," Smith said. "The door and the track the opener runs on is shot, but the motor on the opener is OK."

Despite the damage, Smith was grateful it wasn't worse.

"I got to thinking about it later," he said. "The vehicle was still running when it hit. It totaled the Dakota out, and the gas line could have ruptured. There was a chance for fire. It could have been a lot worse."

"Kids will be kids," Smith added. "It was a pretty interesting one."

Kindler pointed out that there was no high-speed chase leading up to the incident.

"My understanding is, it was very slow," Kindler explained. "It wasn't a pursuit. The suspect went a little ways at about 10 mph, then the brake lights came on and the driver took off. No one was in the vehicle when it hit the fire hall."

No court date has yet been set in the case.