Residents OK After Tanker Truck Strikes Apartment

A family of four escaped injury after a gasoline tanker truck crashed into their apartment when the driver apparently suffered a seizure.

No one was seriously injured and no gasoline spilled Friday night when the truck hit several parked cars and a two-story apartment building at 4930 Woodman Ave., said Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey.

Fifty firefighters and 10 firetrucks responded to the 10 p.m. accident, said Humphrey.

About 100 people were evacuated from the neighborhood as firefighters transferred nearly 9,000 gallons of gasoline from the damaged tanker truck to another truck, he said.

“It seems almost miraculous there was no fuel spill or fire,” said Humphrey. “It could have been a cataclysmic event.”

Firefighters worked for about five hours to transfer the gasoline and remove the truck, which had driven several feet into Lubomir Gueorguiev’s ground-floor apartment. On Saturday, crumbled drywall and bricks from the damaged fireplace filled the living room, where wood beams were being used to support the ceiling.

Gueorguiev said his mother was sitting on the sofa watching TV when the truck drove through the living room wall.

The 56-year-old woman was treated and released at an area hospital after complaining of chest pains.

“I don’t know how she’s alive,” said Gueorguiev, 29. “It’s horrible.”

Gueorguiev was not home when the accident occurred, but in addition to this mother, his wife, Elena Borilova, 30, and their 6-month-old son were in the apartment. They were not injured.

The driver of the truck, Emmanuel Hawkins, possibly suffered a seizure before the accident, said Lt. Ron Tingle of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Valley Traffic Division.

Hawkins, 40, of West Covina, was not visibly injured, but he was unconscious when bystanders helped firefighters pull him out of the truck, Humphrey said.

Hawkins was transported to Northridge Hospital Medical Center, where he was in stable condition, said a nursing supervisor.

It was not clear if Hawkins lost consciousness before the accident or after it, Humphrey said.