Round Lake firefighters broke a window to rescue a driver, who is expected to survive, after his car crashed into a tree and became heavily engulfed in flames in Hainesville Monday evening.
The Greater Round Lake Fire Protection District and Grayslake Police Department responded around 8:43 p.m. Monday to the 200 block of Holiday Lane in Hainesville for a report of a vehicle crash with injuries.
A 911 caller reported that a car had crashed into a tree and the car had caught fire with a person still inside, according to Greater Round Lake Fire Protection District Battalion Chief Tony Carraro.
Fire crews arrived to find a single-vehicle crash and requested that all traffic be shut down on Holiday Lane by police.
The small sedan was on the front lawn of a townhome and had sustained heavy damage, Carraro said.
The car was well engulfed in flames and firefighters began pulling a hose line to extinguish it.
Carraro said an ambulance crew was able to quickly access the trapped driver by breaking the driver’s side window.
They unlocked the driver’s door and pulled the driver out of the smoke-filled vehicle, Carraro said.
The fire was brought under control in about 10 minutes and paramedics began preparing to transport the victim to the hospital.
The fire did not spread to the townhome and the building was not hit by the vehicle.
Greater Round Lake Fire Protection District Fire Chief Greg Formica said the driver was the sole occupant of the vehicle.
He was transported to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville in good condition, Formica said.
Tire tracks could be seen in the grass where the car drove through and the tree had visible damage from the impact.
The 911 caller who tried to help said the driver was acting strangely and drooling. It is unclear whether he may have been suffering from a medical emergency or was intoxicated.
No firefighters were injured and the cause of the crash is being investigated by the Grayslake Police Department.