Two motorists, including an off-duty Sacramento Police Department sergeant, were credited with rescuing a woman from a vehicle that caught fire after it crashed in the Land Park area Tuesday night.
Sacramento Police Department spokesman Sgt. Andrew Pettit said a 48-year-old woman was driving a Subaru station wagon north on Riverside Boulevard, approaching Sutterville Road, about 8:30 p.m., when the motorist behind her saw the vehicle drift across the southbound lanes. The Subaru crashed into the landscaping between Riverside Boulevard and the Interstate 5 retaining wall.
The motorist, who stopped to help, called for police and medical aid, reporting that the woman appeared to be unconscious and had her foot wedged against the accelerator pedal, causing the motor to race a full speed.
An off-duty police sergeant driving on Riverside Boulevard came upon the scene and also stopped to help.
As the two tried to remove the woman from the vehicle, leafy debris underneath the car was ignited by friction of tires spinning in the brush, Pettit said, and the fire spread into the engine compartment.
An on-duty Sacramento police officer arrived and used a fire extinguisher to control the fire until firefighters arrived and put out the fire.
The woman was taken to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Pettit said investigators are trying to determine whether alcohol contributed to the crash.
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