Even the firefighters were snapping pictures with their cell phones.

Given the piles of rubble, the amount of public gawking on 16th Street on Tuesday afternoon would've seemed grotesque in almost any other situation. But somehow – "by the grace of God," in the words of one person who was nearly a victim – nobody was seriously injured in a dramatic building collapse at 16th and U streets.

Police say an Icee truck and Volvo sport-utility vehicle collided in the intersection and together careened into a parked car and the brick office space formerly occupied by Mayor Kevin Johnson's campaign staff.

The vehicles stopped just feet from a table full of friends sitting on the sidewalk at a packed Harry's Cafe next door.

"If it wasn't for that pole and that (parked) car right there, I'd be dead," said a shaken Danielle Viglione, whose legs were nicked by tumbling patio chairs. "My life just flashed before my eyes."

As crowds gathered to marvel at the destruction, the sense of amazement – and relief that the human toll wasn't worse – was palpable.

The drivers of both cars were taken to Mercy General Hospital but with only minor injuries, according to authorities.

Had the office space been occupied, fire Capt. Jim Doucette predicted, paramedics likely would've been dealing with multiple serious injuries, if not fatalities.

"We're lucky," Doucette said. "It could've been a lot worse."

About 2:15 p.m., the Volvo was headed west on U Street, stopped at the 16th Street stop sign, when the car began making its way into the intersection, said police Sgt. Norm Leong.

The Icee truck, headed north on 16th Street, swerved to try to avoid the Volvo, but the vehicles collided, Leong said.

Together, they careened into the building at 2030 16th St.

It's too early to tell who was at fault, Leong said. However, generally speaking, a vehicle stopped at a stop sign has to "yield to the right of way … until it's safe to enter an intersection," he said.

Neither drugs nor alcohol appeared to play a role in the accident, Leong said.

The force of the impact caused the building to crumble because there were no steel beams in the walls, said city building inspector Josh Pino. Built in 1929, the structure was constructed with "unreinforced masonry," meaning the roof is about the only thing keeping the walls steady, he said.

Once the walls were disrupted by the truck, the roof caved, Pino explained.

Had a similar collision occurred with a modern building, Pino said, the damage would've been considerably less. The truck "might've even bounced off it," Pino said.

Viglione, a Del Campo High School graduate and former Sacramento Monarchs player, was seated just outside Harry's Cafe, talking business with three colleagues when the accident occurred.

Jason Perkins was facing the street when he saw the cars headed in their direction. He doesn't remember exactly what he yelled, but it was something along the lines of "Watch out!"

In a bit of understatement, Perkins described the ordeal as "crazy."

"By the grace of God," nobody was hurt, he said. "I'm glad I'm able to speak" about it.

Cafe owner Harry Luong was eating lunch with co-workers inside when he saw the four people seated outside – including his own son – jump out of their chairs in a panic, followed by thunderous crashing sounds.

"Luckily, they ran real quick – they're basketball players," Harry Luong said.

After the accident, he hustled his employees and customers out the back of the building.

Some left without paying.

"I lost money on that," he added.

The whole incident, however, ended on a much happier note: a 5-year-old black Labrador search dog named Remy found no human scent in the debris, Pino predicted that the building could be salvaged, and Harry Luong got the OK to open for business today.

Whether patio seating will be available remains to be seen.

Call The Bee's Kim Minugh, (916) 321-1038. Bee researcher Sheila A. Kern contributed to this report.