Baby Rescued From Burning Vehicle In Golden Valley; Driver Seriously Injured
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Golden Valley police say an infant was rescued from a vehicle fully engulfed in flames Tuesday evening.
According to police, officers responded at 8:31 p.m. to a motor vehicle crash on the 3800 block of Golden Valley Road. There, officers found a vehicle down a steep embankment in Bassett Creek, on its side and fully engulfed in flames.
"When officers got here along with the fire department, they noticed a car down the embankment. The car was fully engulfed, flames coming out the front of the car," said Golden Valley Police Commander Steve Johnson. "The personnel heard what they thought was a baby crying."
Firefighters and police officers carefully made their way down the steep embankment, surrounding the vehicle.
"Found that there was a baby inside the car, in a car seat in the rear of the car," he said.
Johnson describes an adrenaline rush. While one officer used his baton to break out the back window, another officer hoisted a firefighter onto the top of the car.
"He was so amped up he was actually able to pick the firefighter up off the ground and put him up towards the car to help get that baby out," Johnson said. "They broke the window out and were able to unlatch the baby from the car seat and pull the baby out through the rear window."
The 23-month-old boy had no visible signs of injury. The 22-year-old man who was driving was found unconscious on the ground near the car. He had suffered serious injuries.
"All this unfolded in like a three-to-five-minute period of time, from the time we arrived till the time we were really making some good headway in putting the fire out, and making good headway on getting people out of the vehicle," said Golden Valley Fire Chief John Crelly.
Police say the preliminary investigation indicates that alcohol may be a factor in the crash, which is being investigated by Golden Valley police and the Minnesota State Patrol.
