Chattanooga, TN, Firefighters Use Extrication Skills to Free Woman

Jan. 28, 2025

The driver was pinned under the weight of the tree, the windshield and the dashboard, Chattanooga firefighters said.

By Mark Price

Source Merced Sun-Star (Merced, Calif.) (TNS)

Chattanooga firefighters put their extrication skills to work when they found a woman trapped in her car.

A large tree fell across a road and flattened a passing Kia, and firefighters arrived to discover a woman was still alive in the “mangled vehicle.”

It happened around 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 26, near Chattanooga, Tennessee, and photos show the front of the vehicle was reduced to knee-height.

The driver survived with the help of an airbag and a reclining seat, photos show.

A child was also in the car, but was freed by good Samaritans, the Chattanooga Fire Department said in a Jan. 26 Facebook post.

However, the woman’s entrapment was so complex, firefighters were forced to get creative, officials said.

“The driver was pinned under the weight of the tree, the windshield and the dashboard,” the fire department wrote.

“Firefighters had to build cribbing, which is a temporary wooden structure used to support heavy objects. ... They also used airbags to lift the huge tree in order to remove the doors of the car to get the driver out. It was an extended, challenging operation that took focus, patience and skill.”

The woman was hospitalized “with injuries to her lower extremities.” The child was not seriously hurt, officials said.

A relative of the woman and child shared an update Jan. 27 on social media, reporting she “has a concussion, some vertebrae impacts, and (is) overall pretty banged up.”

Meanwhile, her son has bruising, a jammed finger/wrist and “a little head bump,” the post said.

Firefighters say “it appeared that someone cut” the tree that struck the car. The top of the tree, which was forked, landed across the hood, photos show.