Dale Stinogle was jolted from his quiet afternoon looking out the kitchen window of his Madison apartment Wednesday when he “heard a big crash, like an explosion, and then the whole house shook.”

“We have a few oxygen tanks stored in our basement, and it was so forceful, I first thought one of them may have exploded,” he said.

Stinogle said he made sure his girlfriend, Freda Ianni, wasn’t hurt and then looked outside and saw a late-model Buick sedan had slammed into the corner of the house at 208 Main St., near the West Newton Road intersection. Westmoreland County 911 dispatchers said the accident was reported at 2:42 p.m.

“There were two guys inside the car,” Stinogle said. “They were already out of the car and, luckily, no one was hurt. … They had already called for a tow truck.

“We were definitely lucky. That car just narrowly missed hitting the telephone pole and the gas meter of the house.”

Stinogle said one of the car’s two occupants, whom he did not identify, reported he was “just learning to drive” and had lost control while pulling from West Newton Road south onto Main Street.

“He was more scared than anything. I don’t know if the steering may have locked up or what,” Stinogle said.

Madison Volunteer Fire Department responded to the scene and provided traffic control, according to dispatchers. State police in Greensburg were investigating, but an accident report was not available.

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