BARNET — A 77-year-old gas station owner died Wednesday when he experienced a medical problem while driving, veered off the road and crashed into the gas pumps at his own business, according to Vermont State Police.
Paul Keenan of Ryegate was pronounced dead at the scene, troopers said. Keenan had been a member of the Ryegate Selectboard, with a term set to end next year, town documents show.
The incident happened just before 6 a.m. on Wednesday outside Keenan’s business, Paul’s Whistle Stop, a small gas station and convenience store on Route 5 in Barnet.
Troopers said Keenan was driving a red 2012 Chevy pickup to the station to open for the morning when witnesses saw the vehicle run off the road and over a lawn. The truck went through a fence and hit an embankment, launching into the air for about 25 feet before coming down on the gas pumps outside the station.
The impact destroyed the pumps and caused heavy damage to the front end of the truck. State police, town firefighters and an ambulance responded to the scene. A medical examiner and detectives determined that Keenan had suffered a “significant medical event” before going off the road, according to a press release.
Carolyn Holliday, 63, was asleep in her home on Route 5 when the truck flew into the pumps next door.
“I heard a thundering crash,” she said Wednesday evening.
When she and her husband went outside, they saw that Keenan’s truck had gone through their yard, and about a dozen people had come to help.
Trevor Holliday, her husband, pointed to the tire tracks in their yard, still visible about 12 hours after the incident, and then to a chipped spot in a tree that Keenan’s truck had nicked.
“He was a great man,” the 61-year-old said of Keenan. “A really great man.”
The Hollidays have lived next to Keenan’s store for over three years, and often they’d see the same crew of people congregating there each morning to drink coffee and chat.
“He was the guy; he made the coffee,” Trevor Holliday said. “Rain or shine, always there.”
The couple highlighted Keenan’s involvement around the area — such as playing Santa Claus come Christmastime— and his work as a selectman in Ryegate, where he was also a town historian.
“It’s a real loss for the community,” said Trevor, “in so many ways.”
