PORTLAND (AP) — A Portland Fire and Rescue spokesman says firefighters and police officers worried about an approaching train moved a damaged car and its trapped driver off railroad tracks Tuesday night.
Lt. Rich Chatman says three firefighters and two police officers shifted the four-door sedan off the tracks far enough that a train would not hit it. Additional firefighters used hydraulic cutters to cut the damaged metal from around the driver’s side door and free the male driver.
The unidentified driver was taken to a hospital with injuries not seen as life-threatening.Chatman says dispatchers had learned that a westbound train was headed toward the accident scene on the same set of tracks. Firefighters asked that the train be stopped, but without confirmation that the train could be contacted in time, they decided to take no chances.
Witnesses say the vehicle hit a guard rail and spun out of control, stopping at the rail crossing.
