Thursday morning started out like any other morning for Joyce Ortega of Kalispell.

She had been out in her garage earlier that morning and was standing just outside the back door of her house when it happened.

“I heard this horrible sound and I wondered what it was, then it was just a blur of red,” Ortega said.

In the alley across from her West Nevada Street home, a minivan increased to full acceleration, striking a utility pole and launching over a boulder, then clipping the corner of a garage as it approached the road.

It then barreled full-force through Ortega’s closed garage door, slamming into her car, which was pushed through the rear wall of the garage.

That is where the van finally came to rest, the garage door crumpled across its hood. The destroyed wall of the garage rested against the garage of Ortega’s neighbor.

“I just honestly could not believe what I’d seen,” Ortega said. “The first thing I did was ran inside the house, afraid it was going to blow up or something. I just herded up my son and dogs and got them to the other side of the house. In that panic moment, you don’t know what you’re doing.”

What caused the driver to make the unscheduled stop is unknown, but Ortega said she heard the man had some sort of medical event, possibly a seizure.

“Thankfully everyone’s OK,” Ortega said. “That’s all that matters.”

The driver, an elderly man, was unharmed, while his passenger was transported to the hospital with minor injuries including neck pain.

Ortega said she heard on the radio that the passenger was released later that day. Both were able to exit the vehicle with just a little help so as not to lose their footing.

On Friday afternoon, Ortega began cleaning up the debris in and around her garage, which now is little more than two walls and a roof.

While her 13-year-old son, Christian, tried to dig out his golf clubs from under a bicycle that had been folded in half, she said the unexpected renovation has drawn a lot of attention.

“There’s been lots and lots of people that have come by,” Ortega said. “They don’t come up and knock on the door, but they stop their cars as they pass and are looking.”

A contractor is visiting her home today to board up the garage and deal with any electrical issues, but she will have to wait a week and a half before an insurance adjuster will make it there. She said the damage will be covered under her policy.

Kalispell Fire Chief Dave Dedman said the van had Montana plates but that they weren’t local. He noted that the fire department responds to quite a few vehicle-versus-building calls each year, but that this one was unique in some ways.

“This dealt with three buildings, a utility pole and totaled two cars,” Dedman said. “It was just a weird call.”