Car Slams Into Gas Station Convenience Store on Bergen Blvd

Fort Lee fire officials say they had to “red tag” the convenience store at the on Route 46 and Bergen Boulevard Thursday afternoon after a car driven by an elderly man slammed into the building, leaving significant structural damage.

“It appeared as if the vehicle ran into the convenience store after running through the gas pump area,” said incident commander, Battalion Chief Mark Sulkov of the Fort Lee Fire Department. “We do not know if he had previously purchased gas or if he didn’t stop for the gas pump.”

Sulkov described the driver, whose name was not available, as “a very elderly gentleman,” and said the man refused medical assistance, signing off on the RMA.

The force of the crash was enough to break a large plate glass window in the front of the store, knock several bricks loose and push in the corner of the store to the point where fire officials on scene notified the Fort Lee Building Department, which, according to Sulkov, declared the building “inhabitable.”

The car was towed, there were no injuries to anyone inside the store and no fluids were spilled, according to Sulkov.

The main concern Thursday was the structural damage to the small building.

“[People] are not supposed to go into the convenience store section only because the whole front of the store is just sections of glass and aluminum frame,” Sulkov said. “So every time you open and close the door, everything flexes … you just don’t want people going in and out. Someone would have to be standing near this window because it’s in the cash register area, and we just felt that it would be unsafe until they make it safe. They red tagged the building. We felt it was unsafe for anyone to be inside until that was repaired.”