A GoFundMe effort is underway to assist a Knapp Creek, N.Y. couple who lost their house after a pickup truck smashed into their living room Monday.
Family members of John “Bull” and Tiffany Miller, on the GoFundMe page, indicate the structural integrity of the house was destroyed and the husband and wife were instructed by emergency response personnel to grab a few belongings and evacuate their home on Route 16.
The couple have been left “homeless and living out of a hotel until they can get things figured out” after the Ford F250 careened into the house.
More than $2,200 of a $10,000 goal had been raised as of Thursday evening.
“Many of their personal items and prize possessions were destroyed or had to be left behind,” the GoFundMe page states. “They were ordered to grab what they could easily get and were told not to go back in after the emergency services leave because the house is not structurally safe to enter.”
The family hopes that insurance will cover much of the damage, but the claims process will take time.
“This is to help them right away in finding a place and helping with their immediate needs,” the page states. “They are both always the first to drop everything and help someone else so we want to return the favor and give them the hand they deserve.”
Several fire departments as well as law enforcement personnel were dispatched at 3:45 p.m. Monday on a report of a vehicle crashing into the house on Route 16. Authorities indicated that the New York State Police is the investigating agency but troopers, as of Thursday, had not reported any more details on the incident — including no identification of the driver nor a cause of the truck veering so wildly out of control.
Responding agencies included volunteer fire departments from Knapp Creek, Allegany, town of Olean and Weston Mills, as well as the city of Olean. Star Hose Company of Port Allegany, Pa., responded with its technical rescue squad. Pennsylvania fire departments responding included Derrick City and Otto Township.
The house had to be stabilized before the pickup truck could be removed with a wrecker.