Firefighters use jaws of life to extract woman from rollover crash on 55 Freeway in Costa Mesa

Firefighters were called Thursday to the scene of a rollover crash on the 55 Freeway in Costa Mesa that required members to use the jaws of life to pull a driver from her mangled SUV, officers reported.

Costa Mesa Fire & Rescue Capt. Joe Noceti said a call came in at around 11:20 a.m. reporting a single vehicle had overturned on the southbound side of the freeway, just north of the 73 Freeway overpass. Responders had to use the jaws of life to extricate the driver, a middle-aged woman, from the vehicle.

“One vehicle was on its side when we arrived,” Noceti said Thursday. “There was one victim — they were unconscious and trapped.”

Lanes were temporarily closed to allow rescuers onto the freeway. The woman was taken to a nearby trauma center, where she was treated for moderate, non-life-threatening injuries.

CHP spokesman Officer Florentino Olivera said the SUV was the only vehicle involved in the crash.

“The driver hit the center divider and the vehicle overturned,” Olivera said, adding that officers believe no drugs or alcohol were involved in the collision.

Among the injuries sustained by the driver was at least one broken bone, Olivera added.

By around noon Thursday, with the victim transported to a hospital, the wrecked vehicle was pulled onto a flatbed tow truck and removed from the scene, allowing for a full reopening of the 55 Freeway, according to Noceti.

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