A giant tree-trimming crane collapsed into a North Jersey home on Wednesday, creating a large hole and forcing the residents to find shelter elsewhere.
Tree-trimmers were on Westminster Drive in Montville on Wednesday afternoon for routine work, News 12 New Jersey reported. But things went quickly sideways when the crane became unbalanced and slammed through a home, upending the truck it was attached to.
It took five hours for crews to fix the situation, according to News 12.
“The stabilizer didn’t hold, it broke and it tipped the crane over going through the house,” towing company owner Mike Corigliano told WNBC.
No crew members were injured in the collapse. The owners of the house, Ken Rose and his wife, weren’t home at the time of the accident, but their housekeeper and four dogs were, according to WCBS. No one inside the home was hurt either.
“We were planning on having the family for Thanksgiving,” Rose told News 12. “I don’t know if that’s going to happen.”
Rose said his family’s immediate concern was rain in the forecast for the North Jersey and New York City areas potentially damaging the interior of the home. The Roses weren’t even immediately allowed back into the residence, pending a structural assessment.
Similar collapses are not unheard of in New Jersey. In July 2020, an 85-foot crane collapsed into a home in Tinton Falls, and in December 2019, another tree-trimming crane fell into a Hamilton home. No one was injured in either of those incidents.