Dave Cahill was down the street from his popular Arlington pub when an employee of Ireland’s Four Courts called with a desperate message for help Friday night: There was an explosion inside. Cahill, a partner in charge at the pub, rushed back to find a scene he described as chaos. A passenger car had driven through the front door and barreled into workers and two groups of patrons, including a company happy hour where guests had just exchanged gifts. Cahill said his employees and dealers turned into a rescue crew, helping the injured – who police on Saturday revised from 14 to 15 – to safety. “It was pure carnage,” Cahill said. “People are crying and people are running in the street. People are trying to get the injured out. Then the bar caught fire.” Several injured when car plows into Arlington bar and ignites large fire A day after the horrific accident that happened around 6:45 p.m. on Friday in a busy area of Wilson Avenue, authorities were still trying to figure out what happened. On Saturday, Arlington police said the driver was using a ride-share at the time and had a passenger, but said the cause remains under investigation. Police said nine people were taken to hospital on Friday, including the driver and passenger, but only three remained on Saturday. They include two in critical condition and one in serious but stable condition. Six others were released. Cahill said three employees and at least four bar patrons were among those injured. Witnesses said the crash was like a bomb going off. “The force of the explosion knocked people off their stools,” Cahill said. As terrible as the crash was, he said it could have been a lot worse. It took place on a Friday night in August, when no major sporting events were taking place, so there were only eight or so patrons in the building. Cahill said weeks earlier 200 had jammed in to watch a football game around the same time. Mira Hougen, 18, a former employee at Four Courts, was driving her 15-year-old brother to work at the pub. She said her brother was never late for work, but on Friday he was late and it may have saved him from serious injury. They arrived minutes after the crash. Cahill said the car traveled about 20 feet into the pub, stopping at the booth where Hooghen said her brother would be stationed for work. Haugen said she found a gaping hole in the front of Four Courts’ bright red facade when she pulled it over. Black smoke poured out and soon became orange flames. Police said the fire was caused by the car catching fire. Hougen captured the moment on video. It shows people tending to the injured on the pavement and a first responder crawling through the large hole created by the car impact. Flames begin to glow ominously inside the building. In a second video moments later, flames can be seen licking the front of the pub and shooting upwards. Hougen said a group of older men are regulars at the pub, so she was relieved to see that some had made it out unscathed, including one which rested on a cane. “They were so shocked,” Hoogen said. “The look on their faces.” Police said the vehicle struck the pub after traveling down North Courthouse Road, which dead-ends just before where the road intersects with Wilson Avenue. Hougen said a witness told her the car was moving at a good clip when it hit the bar. This account could not be confirmed by the police. Arlington firefighters were able to bring the blaze under control, but Cahill said damage to the pub was extensive. The photos he sent show a blackened interior filled with piles of boards, twisted metal and an overturned bar stool. Cahill said the pub has yet to put a dollar figure on the losses. Fourteen people were injured on August 12 when a vehicle crashed into the Four Courts Irish pub in the Courthouse area of Arlington. (Video: Mira Hougen) Four Courts regular Mike De Robbio took to the internet soon after the crash and started a GoFundMe campaign that has the pub’s blessing. It had raised nearly $20,000 as of Saturday afternoon, and De Robbio said donations have poured in from across the country. De Robbio said he felt compelled to help because Four Courts was such a fixture of the local community. Opened in 1996, the pub regularly hosts football fans and has a restaurant serving Irish food. De Robbio said he started going to the pub in 2018 after his father died. He said it helped him reconnect with the world and he kept coming back. He said Four Courts is so beloved that local Democratic and Republican groups are talking about holding a joint fundraiser for it, which is remarkable, he said, in an era of hyperpartisanship. “If someone is in Arlington for a day or has lived here for a few years, this is their hometown,” De Robbio said of the Four Courts. “At the risk of sounding cliche, this place is Cheers. Everyone knows you.” Cahill said the crash came at a particularly difficult time, as the pub was just recovering from years of restrictions and reduced operations related to the coronavirus pandemic. He said the business is trying to figure out how to help injured employees. A structural engineer has deemed the building safe, but it cannot be reoccupied yet. Cahill said he has been inundated with messages from well-wishers and thanked first responders for arriving on the scene so quickly. He pledged that four courts would reopen. “We’re just processing everything,” Cahill said. “This is a ball from the sky.”
