A car crashed into Ireland’s Four Courts pub in Arlington at around 6:45 p.m. Friday, injuring 14 people, eight of whom were hospitalized.
The crash occurred when a vehicle “came down N. Courthouse Road and went into the building going very quick,” Ireland’s Four Courts general manager Dave Cahill told ARLnow.
The car went about 20 feet into the building before catching fire. It would ultimately require a two-alarm response from the Arlington Fire Department to quench the blaze.
The crash occurred during dinnertime, and the building was evacuated after the crash occurred and the fire started. Of the 14 people injured in the crash, six were treated on site by paramedics.
The rest of the victims required more serious medical care. Four people were hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries, while another four, who were at the pub for an office happy hour, were hospitalized with serious injuries.
“We all heard a bang, an explosion so I just turned around and I saw all the debris coming towards the back of the pub. So, it was just pure panic… I thought the whole place was just going to explode,” server Mary Reilly told NBC 4.
.@ARLnowDOTcom Please keep the all the injured in your thoughts and prayers. Thanks to .@ArlingtonVaPD and .@ArlingtonVaFD for their quick response. We are devastated.
— Irelands Four Courts (@irelands4courts) August 12, 2022
Mr. Cahill told ARLnow that, while the front of the restaurant was heavily damaged, the rear of the restaurant and the kitchen were unaffected.
At around 9:30 p.m, police announced that, although it was not fit to be reinhabited, the building was still structurally sound.
The totaled car was removed from the building early Saturday morning.