It was a late night wake-up call for people living in a North Vancouver apartment building after an asphalt milling machine came way too close for comfort.
The massive machine came just inches away from smashing into the building near West 25th Street and Lonsdale Avenue just after midnight.
“The machine came in right underneath our window,” said resident Krystal Stone. “I heard a smash at midnight, thinking it was a car accident, and when I looked out the window there was a black mass still heading towards the building.
“I heard crashing and smashing and I thought it was a tree coming down. I didn’t know what it was.”
The machine is used in road construction. RCMP tell CKNW a two-member crew was loading it onto a flatbed truck when it came out of gear due to a hydraulic failure, rolled through the intersection, and struck a tree by the building.
“I jumped out of bed and moved away as fast as I could expecting it to break through the building, but nothing broke through and that was a relief and a shock,” said Stone. “We heard — I believe it was the driver — shouting up at the building to see if everyone was okay. We double-checked to make sure that there was no damage. The thing was three-inches away from the side of the building.”
She says a fence and tree appeared to have stopped the machine from hitting the building.
Police say the two operators were shaken up but not injured.