Driver smashes into Santa Rosa warehouse, flees

The pickup driver who crashed into a west Santa Rosa warehouse early Wednesday fled after knocking a hole in a wall and sheering off natural gas lines, which filled the building with explosive levels of gas, according to a fire official.

Santa Rosa firefighters donned protective gear before carefully forcing open the front door and cutting holes in the structure to vent the gas. They also set up fans to air out the building.

“This could have gone bad on a couple different levels,” Santa Rosa Battalion Chief Mark Basque said. “It was at explosive levels. It just lacked an ignition source.”

Santa Rosa police are investigating the hit-and-run crash and who left the Nissan Frontier jammed into the building. A security guard in the area spotted the truck and called police at about 2:30 a.m.

When officers found the gas lines severed they contacted fire crews and PG&E and blocked off the roadway due to the large gas leak, said Santa Rosa police Sgt. Chad Heiser.

Officers have the name of the truck’s registered owner and the crash remained under investigation Wednesday, Heiser said.

The building, near Condo Court, is a warehouse for Oliver’s Market.

- Randi Rossmann