ELGIN, Ala. (AP) -- A Rogerville woman remained in serious condition Thursday after her burning car crashed through concrete guardrails on a bridge and plummeted 30 feet, her family said.
Marilyn Nance, 44, was traveling east on U.S. 72 Wednesday morning when her car veered across the roadway and crashed through a 20-foot section of the concrete bridge guardrail, authorities said. The burning car then fell to the bottom of a ravine.
Kenneth Kelso, a firefighter with the Elgin Fire Department, said the car apparently turned 360 degrees in the air before landing on its tires.
A rescue team made up of members of the Killen, Center Star and Greenhill fire departments used a rescue basket and special rope to remove Nance from the wreckage, firefighters said.
''We were able to get (the victim) safely out and ready for transporting in about 10 minutes,'' said Capt. Max Williams, a Center Star firefighter and member of the High Angle Rescue Team. ''If not for this equipment and training, we would have had to bring her out by hand, which would have taken longer and been more dangerous.''
Nance was taken to Eliza Coffee Memorial Hospital.
Williams said the rescue effort marked the first time the unit had been called into action.
The wreck is under investigation by the Alabama Department of Public Safety.
