12:02 AM: We’re receiving multiple reports of a very loud explosion-type sound in the Junction vicinity. “With car alarms,” according to @macjustice via Twitter. Fire crews are going were briefly sent to California/Edmunds to investigate – but can’t find anything and are being canceled. Police were checking too.

(WSB photo by Christopher Boffoli, added 12:53 am)
12:29 AM: Via the WSB Facebook page, one area resident reports being told by police that whatever exploded, was set off in a dumpster by the Chase drive-through. There also are reports of a few more booms a few minutes ago, possibly in the Jefferson Square Safeway vicinity, per FB discussion.

1:27 AM NOTE: Things seem to have quieted now – no further news on this.

Thanks to Sharonn for the photo from 37th/Alaska, where a Route 54 bus was involved in a crash. Not major, but as you can see from the ambulance in the photo, at least one person was hurt, and eastbound Alaska (by the VFW and Legion halls) will be difficult to get around until the scene is clear.

1:45 PM: We mentioned this earlier only on Facebook and Twitter because it looked like it would clear fairly fast, but apparently it hasn’t cleared yet: Avoid Fauntleroy end of eastbound bridge, there’s a crash parallel with Nucor.

2 PM: We passed the aforementioned scene on both sides of a quick run downtown. It should be clear shortly – a tow truck was getting the last of the vehicles at about 1:50 pm. (We don’t have any information on circumstances or injuries, though.)

We also have seen two apparent spinouts today on the southbound 99 offramp to the westbound West Seattle Bridge – this one at about 1:46 pm hadn’t even drawn police yet:

There’s also been a crash in West Seattle, 42nd/Findlay, this past half-hour, and Christopher Boffoli checked it out – stand by for more on that.

2:33 PM: From Christopher:

He says private ambulances were on hand, with at least two people expected to go to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. We don’t have the official word yet on citations but it appeared that the southbound car had a yield sign but failed to yield, he says, adding: “It took SFD a bit of time to extract the passenger in the gold van as the door on that side was deformed by the crash.”

12:12 PM: A crash at 35th/Henderson has police diverting traffic north of the scene, at SW Trenton, and south at Barton. More details to come.

12:19 PM UPDATE: Added a photo. No information so far on the circumstances of the crash, but as the picture shows, two cars were involved. The private ambulance was there to take one person to the hospital. It and the fire truck have just cleared, according to our crew on the scene, but you’ll want to avoid the area a while longer, till debris can be cleaned up, and vehicles towed if needed.

1:03 PM: Went back over to verify – the scene is all clear, traffic back to normal.

(Photo by Shari, via Twitter)
8:33 PM: We don’t know a lot about the circumstances yet, but there’s a “heavy rescue” callout on southbound 99 at the West Seattle Bridge exit; one caller tells us a car has “one wheel over the edge.” (And now we’re getting photos via Twitter too – just added one above – thanks to Shari and Judy for sharing theirs.) For now, if you happen to be in or north of downtown, you’ll want to find an alternate route back to WS. No information yet on injuries.

8:57 PM UPDATE: The Fire Department has cleared the scene, according to the 911 log, but still no official info yet. In comments, “Mn” says it appeared the driver was OK and talking with authorities.

9:35 PM UPDATE: Just drove The Bridge/99 downtown and back, and the scene is clear, everything moving normally.

The scene’s clearing, but in case you passed by and wondered – the police/fire response at 35th and Barton (map) this past hour was for a bicycle-car collision. Police were still sorting out how it happened but told us that no one was hurt badly enough to be taken to the hospital. It happened on the northwest side of the intersection.

In case you passed by and wondered what happened – not a major crash but certainly an unusual sight: In the past half-hour, WSB contributor Katie Meyer checked out this crash outside the pawn shop at Fauntleroy/Edmunds. As the top photo shows, close call for the store. Katie reports neither driver was hurt; too soon to say how they wound up in this side-by-side crash formation. Tow trucks were on the way.

(Disclosure: We have blurred the license plates in the top photo.)

5:06 PM: Thanks to Adam and Courtney for the tips on a car/pedestrian crash at 35th/Morgan about half an hour ago. We got there fairly quickly, but the scene was already cleared – Adam says the northbound lanes were blocked at one point – and the police cars in our photo were the only evidence left. Police confirm one person was hit by a car and injured. The victim was taken to a hospital by private ambulance, indicating the injuries weren’t major, but that’s all we know at this point – they were still talking to people to try to figure out what happened; we’ll check back later. 5:40 PM: A few more details from Bill, who says word is that the car was headed westbound on Morgan, turning onto southbound 35th, when the pedestrian was hit.

ADDED EARLY THURSDAY: According to Lt. Alan Williams from the Southwest Precinct, the driver, a 63-year-old man, was cited for “right of way at a crosswalk.” The person he hit is a 38-year-old woman who suffered “non-life-threatening injuries.”

(Photos by Christopher Boffoli for WSB)
1:43 PM: On our way to a “heavy rescue” call north of The Junction, at 46th/Dakota.

1:57 PM UPDATE: It’s a one-vehicle rollover crash. Police are still trying to figure out how it rolled – but nobody is seriously hurt, so no medics were sent, and most of the “heavy rescue” response was canceled fairly quickly when it was determined they didn’t have to cut anyone out of the vehicle.

2:02 PM UPDATE: New information, and photo added. The overturned Jeep SUV collided with another vehicle at the nearby intersection; the other car lost a bumper, while this one flipped.

ADDED 2:39 PM: Two new photos, by WSB contributor Christopher Boffoli – one is atop the story, substituted for the original cameraphone photo; the other, showing the car that didn’t flip, is atop this line.

(5:22 PM NOTE: Still no info from police on cause/cited-or-not)

2:23 PM: We’re on our way to the 4800 block of California SW, where a car has reportedly crashed into a shop – east side of California, south of Edmunds, south end of The Junction. More in a moment.

(Photo added 3:06 pm – by Katie Meyer for WSB)
2:34 PM UPDATE: On scene now. The shop is California Nails. The car is all the way into the shop – “embedded,” as our crew puts it. Photo added. California is closed at the scene, south of Edmunds, at the moment. At least one person is hurt, and is on a stretcher.

2:43 PM UPDATE: We’re now told at least two people were hurt – a man has already been taken to the hospital, and a woman is being treated at the scene. (Update: The male driver was NOT hurt.) Fire crews tell us the injuries are NOT major. The shop owners tell WSB the woman was a customer “getting a fill” when they all heard a noise, and in came the car. Traffic south of the crash scene is being diverted westbound on Hudson. (Here’s scene video from WSB’er Kristina.) TV crews have arrived (and if you heard a chopper, that was KIRO).

(Video substituted 4:13 pm for original towing-out still photo)
2:57 PM UPDATE: That’s the car, which is being towed out of the shop.

(Photo by Katie Meyer for WSB)
3:18 PM UPDATE: It’s out now. Traffic still being diverted as of a few minutes ago. We’re continuing to add photos and video – as you can see from the angle immediately above, the crash did NOT take out the entirety of the storefront. But they’re closed at least for the rest of the day. A worker in a neighboring business told us the crash sounded and felt like an earthquake.

3:57 PM UPDATE: That photo shows the inside of the nail shop after the car was pulled out. We checked with Seattle Fire’s media team, and Lt. Sue Stangl tells us there actually was only one injury – the customer who ran out after the crash was barefoot and suffered some cuts. SPD’s official report is not in yet, so we don’t have details on cause/cited-or-not. They do tell us the scene has been opened back up to “routine traffic.”

2:26 PM: If you’ve seen the fire/police crews and/or heard the sirens – they’re headed for an “automobile rescue” call in the 7000 block of 16th SW (map). We’ll be there shortly.

2:34 PM: Adding a photo. Two people have been extricated by fire crews from a badly smashed-up car. We don’t know how serious their injuries are. There also is a pickup truck (toward the right side of the photo) that has hit a tree. Avoid this area, obviously, TFN.

2:42 PM: Scanner traffic indicates a report that one vehicle crossed the line before the collision. The victims from the car were taken to the hospital by private ambulance, which suggests the injuries may not be life-threatening. WSB contributor Katie Meyer says scanner traffic seems to confirm that; the people in the car were described as a male driver and female passenger, both adults, both on the way to Harborview Medical Center.

2:51 PM: Authorities on the scene tell WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand that the car with the two victims hit the pickup truck – which was already on the side of the street with damage from an earlier crash. This crash badly managed the car (additional photo here; note the top was cut off by fire crews) but did not cause much additional damage to the pickup. At this point, it does NOT look like the major investigation team is coming out, which indicates the road should be clear once wreckage is cleared up.

Thanks to Donna at Giannoni’s Pizza for sending that photo of a car crash at Westwood Village. More info to come, but from the first photos, looks like the car just nosed into one of the Pier 1 Imports front windows.

8:58 PM UPDATE: SPD tells us that just after 8 PM tonight, the woman driving the Toyota Camry jumped the curb and drove into the front window of Pier 1. They say it appears the car was parked out front and that she intended to put the car into reverse and pull away but accidentally put the car into drive. There were no injuries. Fire crews remain at the scene securing the broken glass and boarding up the window. The store manager tells us that a glass repair company is on the way and that the store will be open for business as usual tomorrow. Video and more photos to come.

9:30 PM UPDATE: Adding a few pictures from Christopher Boffoli:

10:26 PM UPDATE: Here’s Christopher’s brief video clip: