Rescuers cut open car to save man injured in crash

A man was seriously hurt and trapped in his car after an accident in Costa Mesa Wednesday night, authorities said Thursday. Firefighters had to use special equipment to extricate him from the car.

At about 9 p.m. Wednesday, paramedics and fire officials were called to Baker Street and McClintock Way, where an accident left the driver of a Ford Focus trapped. Firefighters had to use the jaws of life to free the man.

Details on the crash were not immediately available.

It took rescuers about 10 minutes to cut the man out from the driver’s side, said Costa Mesa Battalion Chief Kevin Diamond. In these situations, rescuers prefer not to remove the driver through the passenger side because the car’s center console, among other things, gets in the way and makes it hard to stabilize the victim’s spine, Diamond said. The man was taken to Western Medical Center with complaints of chest and hip pain, officials said.

— Joseph Serna