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- '03.5 Blazin' MSP (sold) ................. '14 Soul 6 GT
A white Mazda RX-8 Crashed and Burned on E.55 St in Cleveland this morning. The police pulled him out before the car was engulfed in flames.
Headline on Newsnet 5 - Cleveland: Two Cleveland police officers pull man from burning car overnight along East 55th Street
CLEVELAND - Two Cleveland police officers are being credited with saving a man's life early Thursday along East 55th Street after a driver hit a bridge with his car.
Third District Cleveland Police Officer's Brian Crites and David Kelley were on patrol when they discovered the car on top of a concrete divider that protects a railroad bridge along East 55th Street just south of Interstate 90.
Police said the Mazda had traveled off the right side of the road and struck a steel support of the railroad overpass.
When Kelley and Crites approached the car it began to smoke and caught fire. Kelley told newsnet5.com that he and Crites first tried to open the driver door but the impact with the bridge had wedged it shut. Crites said he ran to the passenger door and discovered it was stuck too, but he was able to tear it open after a few tugs.
Once the passenger door was open Crites and Kelley thought they would be able to pull the 26-year-old man out to safety, but his legs were trapped under the collapsed dashboard. Between the two officers they said they were able to pull the man from under the dashboard and to safety as the flames took over the entire car.
Crites said the man had a leg injury and a head wound but suffered no burns.
According to Crites, when they pulled the man from the car he came right out of his pants and shoes. Crites said that if the dashboard was any tighter on the man's legs they wouldn't have been able to free him from the car and he would've probably died in the fire.
Cleveland firefighters and EMS crews arrived just seconds after the man was pulled from the car.
Cleveland EMS took the man to MetroHealth Medical Center. His condition is unknown.
The railroad bridge was shut down for an inspection but East 55th traffic was able to get by the scene.
The Cleveland Police Accident Investigation Unit is investigating the crash.
Both Crites and Kelley said they were fine but did say the heat was almost too much to take as they were dragging the man away from the burning car.
Most Cleveland police cruisers do not have fire extinguishers according to multiple officers at the scene, but both Crites and Kelley said they didn't think an extinguisher would've been enough to stop the fire.
NewsChannel5 vehicles have fire extinguishers and we did offer ours as we arrived, but the man had already been freed and it was not needed.
Headline on Newsnet 5 - Cleveland: Two Cleveland police officers pull man from burning car overnight along East 55th Street
CLEVELAND - Two Cleveland police officers are being credited with saving a man's life early Thursday along East 55th Street after a driver hit a bridge with his car.
Third District Cleveland Police Officer's Brian Crites and David Kelley were on patrol when they discovered the car on top of a concrete divider that protects a railroad bridge along East 55th Street just south of Interstate 90.
Police said the Mazda had traveled off the right side of the road and struck a steel support of the railroad overpass.
When Kelley and Crites approached the car it began to smoke and caught fire. Kelley told newsnet5.com that he and Crites first tried to open the driver door but the impact with the bridge had wedged it shut. Crites said he ran to the passenger door and discovered it was stuck too, but he was able to tear it open after a few tugs.
Once the passenger door was open Crites and Kelley thought they would be able to pull the 26-year-old man out to safety, but his legs were trapped under the collapsed dashboard. Between the two officers they said they were able to pull the man from under the dashboard and to safety as the flames took over the entire car.
Crites said the man had a leg injury and a head wound but suffered no burns.
According to Crites, when they pulled the man from the car he came right out of his pants and shoes. Crites said that if the dashboard was any tighter on the man's legs they wouldn't have been able to free him from the car and he would've probably died in the fire.
Cleveland firefighters and EMS crews arrived just seconds after the man was pulled from the car.
Cleveland EMS took the man to MetroHealth Medical Center. His condition is unknown.
The railroad bridge was shut down for an inspection but East 55th traffic was able to get by the scene.
The Cleveland Police Accident Investigation Unit is investigating the crash.
Both Crites and Kelley said they were fine but did say the heat was almost too much to take as they were dragging the man away from the burning car.
Most Cleveland police cruisers do not have fire extinguishers according to multiple officers at the scene, but both Crites and Kelley said they didn't think an extinguisher would've been enough to stop the fire.
NewsChannel5 vehicles have fire extinguishers and we did offer ours as we arrived, but the man had already been freed and it was not needed.
