Crash victims were trapped inside a car early today after it slammed into a utility pole in Ventura, sending power lines down.
The Ventura Fire Department received a report at 12:07 a.m. of a vehicle in a field at North Bank Drive and Montgomery Avenue, the agency said. On the scene, crews found a damaged vehicle with power lines draped over it. The power lines also were across a chain-link fence and some stacked metal pipes, firefighters said.
The department said the car appeared to have slammed into a utility pole at a high speed. The pole, 75 yards from the car, was sheared off 2 feet above the ground, with the remainder of it hanging in midair from the attached power lines, firefighters said.
The fallen power lines created a shock risk that kept firefighters from reaching the crash victims, the department said.
Southern California Edison crews were called to the scene to control the power.
Once the shock risk was eliminated, firefighters extricated the victims and moved an adult female passenger to a waiting ambulance that took her to a hospital. A man who had driven the vehicle was unhurt and stayed on the scene with the California Highway Patrol, firefighters said.
The crash remained under investigation by the patrol, firefighters said.
Copyright 2012 - Ventura County Star, Calif.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
