Long Beach Fire Department calls out Search and Rescue unit to free badly injured woman from wreckage

Long Beach Fire Department's Urban Search and Rescue Team were called out to cut a seriously injured 54-year-old woman from the wreckage of her SUV after her vehicle slammed through a fence and was left teetering precariously on an embankment under the San Diego (405) Freeway Thursday morning.
Rescue crews were called out to the area of Redondo Avenue and the 405 around 10 a.m. after a two car crash sent the woman's SUV careening under the freeway, said Long Beach Fire Capt. Jackawa Jackson.
Witnesses said the crash occurred when the 63-year-old driver of a four-door, Ford Tauras pulled out of the parking lot of a self-storage center and his car collided with the woman's SUV, which was traveling on Redondo.

The force of the impact sent the SUV through the chain link fence, where it came to rest halfway between street and the top of the embankment.

The USAR team used specialized shores to stabilize the vehicle, which was in danger or rolling back down the hill and crushing rescue workers and further injuring the driver, Jackson said.

Once the SUV was stabilized, it took fire crews 5 to 10 minutes to remove the woman from the SUV. She was rushed to a local trauma center in severe distress, Jackson said.

The driver of the Ford Taurus was not injured, Jackson said.

A total of 21 firefighters responded to the crash. There were no other injuries reported and no damage noted to the overpass, he said.

Redondo was closed to all traffic during the incident and the crash is under investigation, authorities said.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Long Beach Police Department's Accident Investigations Detail at 562-570-7355.

To see photos of the rescue, check out the Long Beach Fire Department's News Website at http://firechannel.org/blog/