A man is recovering in the hospital after a car crash in which a witness said the car “folded like a taco” around a tree.
It happened along Bellevue Highway near the intersection of Gildart Road. That’s in Eaton County’s Brookfield Township.
Officials got the call just after 6 p.m. Wednesday night. Witnesses told dispatchers they could hear the victim inside the car, which had wrapped around a tree – but that they could not see the man inside.
The Charlotte Fire Department, Eaton County Sheriff’s Department, and Michigan State Police all responded to the scene. Eaton Area EMS also showed up, and officials requested a helicopter to fly the victim to the nearest hospital if needed.
Firefighters say that with “exceptional ingeniuty” and “multiple extrication tools” including the “jaws of life” – they were able to get the man out of the car in about 20 minutes. They called it “one of the more complex vehicle extractions that our department has done in over 30 years.”
The man, who was the only person in the car, was flown to Sparrow Hospital in Lansing.