He regained consciousness and was taken along with the driver, also a 17-year-old boy, to St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center in Paterson following the lunchtime crash on 20th Street near Eastern Drive, Sgt. Brian Metzler said.
The boys -- both Fair Lawn High School students -- had to be helped from the 2017 Honda Civic, he said, adding that the passenger had a head injury and the driver a hand injury.
Both were extremely fortunate, a responder to the crash told Daily Voice.
"A couple feet either way and one or both of them could've ended up dead," he said.
The Civic apparently was headed south on 20th Street just past Eastern Drive when it "left the roadway and struck a tree, flagpole and wooden fence," Metzler said.
It then "hit and obliterated the front steps," along with the gas main, he said.
The Fair Lawn Fire Department and Fair Lawn Heavy Rescue forced entry into the home to shut the gas off, the sergeant said.
The borough Volunteer Ambulance Corps transported both boys to the hospital, he said.
The Building Department "responded to the scene and deemed the structure safe to be occupied," he added.
A tow truck removed the Civic.
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ALSO SEE: A 90-year-old passenger suffered a severely broken thumb in a Fair Lawn crash Monday morning.
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