Vehicle crashes into 305 Building

Editor’s note: The actual damage to the building, which may have sustained structural damage and had additional damage inside, was unknown at the time this story went to press. The vehicle that hit the building sustained major damage.

An SUV driven by a local woman crashed into the north side of the 305 Building, the former Masonic building on Third Avenue, this morning, shattering a door and cracking part of the building's wall.

Havre Fire Chief Mel Paulson said a call for the crash came in at 7:32 a.m. and added that the vehicle was "banged-up" but there were no injuries from the accident.

"The car just bumped the building," he said. "Everything was good, nobody was hurt, that's about it."

Joseph Azure, a local artist and maintenance worker who has been restoring the 305 Building for Havre Historical Society, said the driver of the SUV apparently failed to hit the brake while parking.

"I would have had a birds'-eye view of the whole thing if I wasn't getting a drink of coffee," Azure said, adding that the crash was only feet from the scaffolding that he has been using while restoring the brick and mortar on the outside of the building.

Azure said the driver, who works at a business in the building, seemed to be OK after the accident, though the airbags in her vehicle did not deploy.

Lyle Bender of Bender's Wrecker Service & Salvage had the vehicle cleared from the scene at about 8 a.m., and he and Azure were working to clean up a mixture of glass and antifreeze from the ground.