A driver was flown to the hospital with serious injuries after a high-speed crash that resulted in his car going airborne, rolling over and becoming engulfed in flames near Harvard Sunday morning.
The Harvard Fire Protection District and McHenry County Sheriff’s Office responded around 1:31 a.m. Sunday to the intersection of Lawrence Road and State Line Road in unincorporated Harvard for a report of a vehicle fire.
Harvard Fire Protection District Public Information Officer Alex Vucha said fire crews arrived and found that the incident was a vehicle crash and not just a vehicle fire as originally reported.
A car had rolled over along Lawrence Road just south of State Line Road after driving off the road.
Vucha said the single-vehicle crash resulted in the car coming to rest on its side and catching fire.
Firefighters arrived and reported the vehicle was fully engulfed in flames.
The adult male driver called 911 and told dispatchers he was initially trapped in the burning car.
He was able to self-extricate before emergency crews arrived, Vucha said. He was the only occupant in the vehicle.
Firefighters extinguished the fire while paramedics treated the 22-year-old man at the scene.
Vucha said the victim was transported to Mercyhealth Hospital and Medical Center in Harvard before being airlifted to a trauma center in Rockford with injuries believed to be serious.
A surveillance video obtained by Lake and McHenry County Scanner captured the crash.
It showed the car traveling at a high speed and going airborne before crashing into a utility pole, causing a power outage.
A neighbor told Lake and McHenry County Scanner that it appeared he veered off the road and overcorrected.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation by the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office.