‘By the grace of God’: Crane crashes into Franklin home after sinking into old septic tank

FRANKLIN, Mass. — There was a large emergency response Wednesday afternoon when a crane truck toppled over onto a house in Franklin after sinking in an old septic tank, according to the Franklin Fire Department.

Firefighters responded to the area of Michelle’s Way at Bent Street around 1 p.m. and found the crane resting on the roof of a home.

“I just saw the crane tipping over and you could hear the crashing obviously so yeah it was scary very traumatic,” said the homeowner Joan McCarthy.

McCarthy and her son were sitting on their front porch watching workers remove trees from their yard when the crane came tumbling down, damaging the chimney and roof.

“My daughter was still in the house so I had to run in the house and yell for her to get out of the house cause at that time you don’t know the extent or if it is going to come crashing through the house because I hadn’t seen it yet,” McCarthy told Boston 25 News.

McCarthy’s husband, Jim says what should have been a routine tree removal job ended in an unexpected way.

“As they were putting the pads down to secure the crane, they discovered an abandoned septic system that I was unaware of. 04:00:18 “The pad from the crane fell into the hole of the abandoned septic system and the entire crane flipped over,” said Jim.

The Boston 25 drone flew over the scene and it gives you a bird’s eye view of the busy scene Wednesday.

The Boston 25 drone flew over the scene and it gives you a bird’s eye view of the busy scene Wednesd

The family credits the crane hitting the chimney for preventing a worst-case scenario. “We thought the whole thing was going to crash on top of us. By the grace of God that chimney literally saved us and we’re okay and nobody was injured.”

How much damage the crane caused to their home is still be examined.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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