Man Pinned In Car Rescued By Tulsa Crews

Firefighters tore the top off a minivan to rescue a man on Highway 169 Thursday. 
    
Will Kavanaugh and Osage Casino Skynews six HD flew overhead as a three-car accident left a man pinned.

Firefighters needed their strongest tools to get him out.
    
The crash blocked Southbound 169 for two and a half hours.

At one time, 20 firefighters worked to peel a minivan away from the driver.

He was draped with a towel as firefighters cut through the steel wrapped around him.

"We train with that in mind, so when we're practicing cutting cars, that's what we do, that's what we prepare for." Said David Patrick with Tulsa Fire and Rescue.

Ladder 32 responded from three miles away.

"It was pretty bad … he was trapped in the car." Said Nick McQuay with Tulsa Fire and Rescue. 

Firefighters realized they would need the departments strongest rescue tools.

"[We had] a couple of different jaws units on scene, but we had to call our rescue truck from downtown," McQuay said. 

"The wreck caused everything to lay in his lap and pin him in there." Said David Patrick. 

With traffic backed up for miles, and officers investigating the crash, firefighters cut off the doors and peeled back the top, cut off the steering wheel, and removed the dash.

It took time, but they got the driver out alive.

Police say the driver of the truck stopped on the left side with a flat tire and the minivan hit it from behind at highway speed.

The truck's driver was not seriously injured, while the man rescued from the minivan was critical as the ambulance left.