A Jeep plowed into the side of a fire hall in Horseshoe Bay leading to consternation over whether the vehicle could be safely removed.

West Vancouver Fire and Rescue duty chief Dave Clarke told CTV News that the car got lodged in Fire Hall no. 3 around 11:45 a.m. on Saturday.

The building was empty because crews were out responding to another call when they got the call about motor vehicle accident at their fire hall.

The driver was a 23-year-old man from Burnaby. According to witnesses he got out of the car and tried to flee, but was found close by.

The driver was taken to hospital from the scene with injuries he sustained during the crash as well as afterwards when he fell down a ravine while fleeing on foot. Officers from the West Vancouver Police Department are investigating, and impaired driving is being looked into.

"We're very fortunate that this didn't result in more serious injuries," said Cst. Jeff Palmer, explaining that Marine Drive is a popular cycling route.

The firetruck avoided getting damaged because it was away on another call when the Jeep plowed into the building. Palmer says fire crews' capacity to respond is unaffected.

The fire department and the District of West Vancouver got structural engineers to assess whether it was safe to remove the Jeep or whether that would make the building collapse.

Around 5:30 p.m. Saturday, they determined it was safe to tow the Jeep out.

With a report from Breanna Karstens-Smith.