Temple Police said the driver, 50-year-old Gustavo Rodriguez of Eagle Pass, either fell asleep or became unconscious because of a medical condition.
He was extricated from the truck about 90 minutes after the crash and was transported to Scott & White Memorial Hospital in Temple with head, body and leg injuries that were not life-threatening.
The father and son who spent the night in the Residence Inn’s first-floor room where the rig landed had just left the room and were eating breakfast in the hotel lobby when the truck hit the building, shaking it like an earthquake. A woman who was inside a room across the hall from where the rig landed was treated for leg lacerations. None of the other guests, about 50 total, were injured.
No hotel workers were hurt. But two housekeepers walking down the hallway near the entry point were thrown to the ground and temporarily blinded by dust and debris.
“When we get up, we see a big hole in the wall. And everything is white like steam,” Luc Maria Malagon said.
Ms. Malagon and her co-worker Jose Cordero helped each other to their feet and walked arm-in-arm to the lobby. They thought something inside the building had exploded until they walked outside and saw the semi-trailer’s tail end protruding from the hotel.
Standing outside the lobby with a towel draped over his shoulders for warmth, Cordero’s black hair was peppered with white Sheetrock particles.
Two plumbers riding in a Dodge work truck said the rig passed them on the interstate. They watched in disbelief as the rig drifted off the highway, clipped a highway sign, narrowly missed a fire hydrant, and without slowing rolled across the Outdoor America Mall parking lot between The Room Store and the Corwin Tile & Carpet showroom.
“We were thinking he was going to start pushing his brakes when he got into that big parking lot . . . because there’s a lot of space in there,” 24-year-old Anthony Blue said. “There’s about a good 6-foot bank there. He actually ramped that, about 15 feet in the air, the whole thing,” Blue said, holding his hands above his head. “Here’s the ramp, he’s like this, second floor, and then he falls down to the first floor.”
Temple police issued a statement: “The truck went airborne over 100 feet, flying over a retaining pond, landscaping and the hotel parking lot.”
After running up the embankment, the truck busted down a fence and took the top off a small tree before hitting the hotel.
Not long after impact, emergency workers opened the rig’s rear doors and determined the load of machine parts was not hazardous.
The sudden evacuation left many guests in shock. On a cold morning with a bitter north wind, some left wearing only shorts and flip-flops. Others who didn’t have time to grab a wallet or a jacket huddled inside The Room Store showroom, towels wrapped around their shoulders.
A West Coast couple staying on the third floor said it felt like a California earthquake. They thought nothing of it until they heard alarms.
Frank Freeze, a Houston health care consultant traveling on business, had to cancel his morning appointments. He was walking in the first-floor hallway near the two housekeepers when the truck hit the hotel like an errant missile. Freeze said he spent the night in room 118. The rig landed in room 120.
“It was me and two of the maids. They got blown down and I got pushed,” Freeze said. “There was Sheetrock dust everywhere. And the smell. I originally thought it was a laundry boiler (that exploded). It was actually diesel.”
Terry Hutchens, his wife, two daughters and a Boston terrier named Zoie were relaxing in their third-floor room when the truck hit. Here in Temple on a house-hunting trip, they left in a panic, wearing shorts, sweats and sneakers.
“Everybody was running and everybody was like ‘What’s happening?’” Kristen Hutchens said.
Shortly before noon, the Residence Inn manager said guests could soon go into their rooms to fetch belongings. Lodging was available in Killeen for folks staying another night, she said.
After the driver was extricated, firefighters inside the building sifted through the wreckage by hand.
“They’re handing a piece of wood to the next person and the next person and they’re throwing it in a pile,” Temple Fire and Rescue spokesman Ron Stewart said. “They’re just trying to get pieces of the hotel out of the way. It’s going to take a long time.”
The bizarre scene - a tractor-trailer rig halfway embedded into the side of a hotel - attracted the curious who snapped pictures with cell phones.
Wayne Woodard finally returned to the Residence Inn at 5:15. He was surprised at how emotional he felt, seeing the truck still jutting out of the wall of the hotel room where he spent the previous night.
The Virginia resident had been staying with his son, Matthew, who is getting married Saturday to Allison Tyroch at First Baptist Church in Temple.
“This is as close as I have been able to get since this morning,” Wayne said. In the morning, he said, it was “too close and too dangerous.”
“The first thing that comes to my mind is how thankful I am that I am still standing here talking to you with my son,” Woodard said. “My son and I are both safe and healthy and uninjured - it is just a blessing.”
Over-the-road rigs like the one that hit the Residence Inn typically measure more than 60 feet and can legally haul up to 80,000 pounds.
The rig is owned by Tri-National Inc., based in Earth City, Mo. Safety director Ernie Davis said the driver had picked up a load in Laredo, but did not know the destination. The company’s Web site says their fleet of 250 trucks hauls freight from Mexico to Canada.
Davis said the company’s safety rating is satisfactory with the Department of Transportation and their fleet is “fully insured.”
Davis would not say if the driver was taking medication.
Temple construction safety personnel and industry consultants remained on scene to determine how badly the building was damaged and if the rig could be safely removed.
Telephones at the Residence Inn were not answered Thursday evening, but its Web site indicates no rooms were available until April 13.
Telegram photographer Mitch Green contributed to this report.
