OAKLAND — Two Oakland police officers stopped a burning van that had just collided with a city vehicle near the Coliseum from rolling down an embankment Thursday morning and then extinguished the fire before firefighters arrived on scene to extricate the driver from the vehicle, authorities said.
Police spokeswoman Officer Johnna Watson said the officers could hear the trapped driver yelling “Help me, I’m on fire.”
The van driver, a 35-year-old Antioch man, was in critical condition at a hospital.
The collision happened at about 7:45 a.m. Thursday in an incline part of the northbound lanes of the 500 block of Hegenberger Road.
Police said a 2007 GMC Xfinity van collided with the rear of a City of Oakland flatbed truck, caught fire and then started rolling about 200 feet back southbound on Hegenberger Road toward the Hegenberger offramp from Interstate 880. The truck driver, a 60-year-old Oakland man, was not injured.
Watson said the two Oakland officers were the first to arrive on the scene and were able to physically stop the burning van from rolling down an embankment, then got a fire extinguisher from their vehicle and put out the fire.
Firefighters were able to extricate the driver at about 8:15 a.m. and he was taken to a hospital.
Oakland Police officers on patrol on-view a van on fire with driver trapped inside and rolling down the street. Officers stop van from rolling, extinguish fire. OFD on scene attempting to extricate driver still trapped inside. #OPDCARES pic.twitter.com/Q5GX9zqNH7
— Oakland Police Dept. (@oaklandpoliceca) September 17, 2020
Investigators said it is not yet known if drugs or alcohol were a factor in the collision.
Watson praised the quick actions of the two officers. “They were able to stop the van from rolling down an embankment, they extinguished the fire which allowed firefighters to immediately start extricating the driver.”
She also lauded the efforts of firefighters who were faced with major damage to the van making it “very challenging for them to extricate the driver” from the wreckage which they were able to do as quickly and as safely as possible..
Streets in the area, including the freeway offramp, were closed for several hours while police investigated.
Anyone with information about the collision is asked to call police traffic investigators at 510-777-8570.
Staff writer Rick Hurd contributed to this report.