Saturday brunch at the Hob Nob restaurant came to a sudden end for scores of restaurant goers when a tree fell into the house next door. This happened in the 700 block of Sixth Avenue, directly across from Wright Park in Tacoma.
The homeowner and her pets were inside the Tacoma home but, incredibly, they all escaped unhurt.
The Tacoma Fire Department says the gas line to the restaurant broke. They evacuated the immediate area while the gas was shut off.
Sashi Milasich and Kevin Ketchum watched the trees come down as they sat in the Hob Nob restaurant.
"Where were you sitting; where exactly?" Milasich was asked.
"Right where it happened," she said. "See that tree where it fell?"
"By the window?" she was asked.
"Yeah," she replied.
"The tree did not penetrate the ceiling?" Ketchum was asked.
"It did not," said Ketchum. "But it did hit the side of the building. You could feel it and then it rolled off into the house."
The homeowner said she was on the second floor of her home when she heard a loud crack and felt the trees fall onto her house. She ran downstairs to check on her dogs before calling 911.
It was at about that time that employees at Hob Nob said they smelled gas. General manager Alexa Schuett ushered the scores of patrons outside.
"Oh, I try not to make people panic," Schuett said.
"What time was it? Just before 11?" she was asked.
"Somewhere around there," Schuett said. "I'm not exactly sure. I didn't check my watch. I was busy. There was a tree falling."
It made for a Saturday no one who experienced it will likely soon forget.
"When you feel that moment," said Milasich, "you realize, you realize stuff."
The trees actually came from the Wright Park Condos two buildings down. They knocked the Hob Nob restaurant out of business all day.
They need to have their gas line repaired and their electricity restored before they can reopen. That could be Sunday afternoon or Monday.
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