Van Buren Township Fire and Police personnel had to remove a tree from a car before the woman inside could be rescued on I-94 Sunday afternoon.
Incident Commander Dan Besson said after fire fighters were dispatched at 4:15 p.m., they found a Honda Civic smashed into a 12-18” pine tree along the right shoulder of Eastbound I-94 near Haggerty.
VBT police were already on the scene and Officer Ken Toney was assessing the driver of the car for injuries. The man was seated on the ground and several drivers had stopped to help.
The passenger, a 26-year-old Dearborn woman, was trapped inside the car after her door had taken the brunt of the impact. The tree had toppled over in the crash and was resting on the roof and hood of the car. The force caused the roof to cave in around her.
She had suffered a head injury and Police Sgt. Mike Moening, a licensed paramedic and also a VBT fire fighter, was stabilizing her, although she had become quite combative. Her legs were trapped in the vehicle, too.
Besson said fire fighters worked feverishly to stablilize the car, remove the tree that hindered removing the patient, and then the windshield that was learning against her.
Besson asked for help from the City of Belleville Fire Department, but later cancelled when the patient was removed from the vehicle before they arrived.
Huron Valley Ambulance quickly transported her to the Trauma Center at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital, before the summoned Medflight could arrive.
Besson said the woman was being treated for what was believed to be a head injury and fractured pelvis. The injuries to the driver did not appear to be life-threatening.
Michigan State Police are investigating the circumstances of the crash.