Semi plows through Miami County house; third time it’s been hit over the years

Homeowner ‘got hit by a semi truck and walked away from it’
Dave Fisher looks at what is left of his house on Friday, March 31, 2023, after a semi drove through it Thursday evening at state Routes 571 and 201 in Bethel Twp. Fisher’s wife was inside and only suffered minor injuries, but the house will be demolished and rebuilt, Fisher says. MARSHALL GORBY \STAFF

Credit: Marshall Gorby

Credit: Marshall Gorby

Dave Fisher looks at what is left of his house on Friday, March 31, 2023, after a semi drove through it Thursday evening at state Routes 571 and 201 in Bethel Twp. Fisher’s wife was inside and only suffered minor injuries, but the house will be demolished and rebuilt, Fisher says. MARSHALL GORBY \STAFF

A semi smashed through a house Thursday evening in Miami County after the driver swerved to avoid hitting a car that pulled into its path.

The crash happened just before 6:30 p.m. at east Ohio 571 and south Ohio 201 in Bethel Twp., said Miami County Sheriff’s Capt. Mike Marion.

“We’ve got a drive-thru now,” homeowner Dave Fisher said on Friday of the gaping hole in the side of his house.

It’s not the first time this has happened — “this is the third time it’s been hit,” including once when his great-grandparents owned it in the late 1960s or early ’70s, and in 1982 when a 1974 Mercury Montigo made a large hole on the east wall — but it will be the last, Fisher said.

The plan is to knock it down to prevent it from possibly falling into the roadway.

Although he is losing his family’s house, he said his worst fear did not happen.

Fisher was in an outbuilding on the property with machinery going and did not hear the crash but saw a flash of light and then part of his house gone.

“The first thing I screamed was ‘my wife’s in there,’ ” said Fisher, who added that he feared what he was going to find as he ran to the house.

“But what I did see was my wife being helped up by others. I hugged her and we carried her out. She had some cuts, scrapes and bruises, no broken bones and she got hit by a semi truck and walked away from it,” he said.

A semi drove through a house Thursday evening, March 30, 2023, at state Routes 571 and 201 in Bethel Twp. Homeowner Dave Fisher said Friday that his wife was inside but only suffered minor injuries. The house will be demolished and rebuilt, he said. MARSHALL GORBY \STAFF

Credit: Marshall Gorby

icon to expand image

Credit: Marshall Gorby

A semi drove through a house Thursday evening, March 30, 2023, at state Routes 571 and 201 in Bethel Twp. Homeowner Dave Fisher said Friday that his wife was inside but only suffered minor injuries. The house will be demolished and rebuilt, he said. MARSHALL GORBY \STAFF

Credit: Marshall Gorby

icon to expand image

Credit: Marshall Gorby

About the Author