Seniors forced into the night after van fire erupts outside Galloway facility

🔥A van crashed and caught fire outside a Galloway senior living facility

🔥Staff evacuated 109 residents as flames started to spread

🔥Firefighters rescued the driver and took him to a hospital

GALLOWAY — More than 100 residents were forced to flee a burning senior center, and a man was charged with drunk driving after a fiery crash late Sunday night.

Galloway police say a Dodge Ram van sped through the intersection of Old New York Road and Route 9 in Galloway and into the parking lot of Historic Smithville Village around 11:45 p.m.

The van hit a fire hydrant and a parked vehicle before crashing into the Ridgewood Senior Living Facility on East Moss Mill Road, police said. Video shows the van crashed in the driveway of the Galloway facility. Police said the fire sent flames toward the second floor of the facility.

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All 109 residents were evacuated, Oceanville Fire Company Assistant Fire Chief Chuck Uhl told NBC Philadelphia. Every resident was accounted for by 1:30 a.m. and was allowed back into their rooms after the fire was brought under control.

Two residents were taken to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in Atlantic City for treatment of minor injuries, according to police.

Nursing home officials told NBC Philadelphia that residents were moved as a "precaution."

Uhl told NBC Philadelphia his department quickly made "what could have been a bad situation go away very quickly."  Police credited firefighters with preventing the fire from spreading.

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Driver rescued after van crash and fire

Firefighters used the Jaws of Life to extricate the driver of the van, police told 6 ABC Action News.

Galloway police identified the driver as Eliel Vazquez-Hernandez, 40, from the Mays Landing section of Hamilton Township. He was arrested and charged with several criminal offenses, including assault by auto, criminal mischief, and causing or risking widespread injury or damage. Court documents say Vazquez-Hernandez initially told police his uncle was driving and he was a passenger.

Investigators reviewed surveillance that showed Vazquez-Hernandez was the only person in the van and left through the side door, according to the affidavit. A "strong smell of alcohol" came from his mouth, his eyes were bloodshot, his speech slurred, according to the document. He had no balance and was told by officers to remain sitting.

Following his release from the hospital, Vazquez-Hernandez will be held at the Atlantic County Justice Facility.

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