For several hours Wednesday, traffic was blocked off on two sections of Dallas Avenue.

As workers installed power poles in one area, emergency crews worked to assist the victims of a three-car accident in another.

“There was an impact down there,” said Robert Mott, as he pointed down the road. “I was in this lane and the car comes from nowhere and came straight my way. I tried to make it into the ditch. If I

hadn’t, it would have been a head-on collision.”

The air was heavy with the smell of gas fumes as people came from their homes to survey the damage.

Pieces of the three vehicles involved –

a 1982 Chevy van, a 1996 Ford Windstar, and a Mercury Grand Marquis of an unknown year – were strewn all over the road, sidewalk and the lawns of residents.

Mott, the driver of the Chevy van, which was damaged on the driver’s side and the front, complained of head and chest pain. He did not, however, seek medical attention.

His only passenger, a small dog, jumped from the vehicle just after the impact initially occurred.

The dog was later found uninjured.

The driver of the mini-van was not as fortunate.

As several rescue workers worked to stabilize her neck and back, others used the jaws-of-life to remove her from her crumpled vehicle.

The driver and the passenger of the Mercury, which took the majority of the impact toward the rear of the driver’s side, were not injured, just “shook up.”

Although all of the details were not clear, witnesses said that the driver of the mini-van turned off of Cooper Drive, began swerving on Dallas Avenue and hit the Mercury. The mini-van then continued up Dallas Avenue and allegedly hit the van.

The driver of the mini-van was taken by ambulance to Vaughan Regional Medical Center.