[Update 7:32 p.m. Monday, Sept. 28]
The Allan Hancock Fire Academy identified Santa Barbara resident Abhi Storm as the cadet who led the rescue.
Reached by phone late Monday, Storm said he relied on his training and ran through several injury check protocols before extricating the driver.
“I saw the car kind of launch and roll,” Storm said, adding the driver’s side window was open, which aided the rescue. “I’m glad I was able to help.”
Storm said he was traveling behind the Toyota and headed back to Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria from Oxnard, where prior to the crash he was fitted for equipment in preparation for a new job he’s starting early next year with the Oxnard Fire Department.
Leonard Champion, Allan Hancock academy faculty member and coordinator, described Storm as a class leader.
“It doesn’t surprise me that he stopped and took action,” Champion said.
[Original story follows]
A white Toyota Corolla hybrid rolled on Highway 101 Monday, after the vehicle veered onto the median five miles south of the Gaviota Tunnel.
A reporter witnessed the northbound car signal briefly for a left turn before entering a left hand turn lane along the coastal stretch. Instead of turning, the vehicle continued straight, careening into the center divider and landing upside down minutes before 1 p.m.
Passersby quickly responded, and a man who appeared to be a first responder wearing an Allan Hancock Fire Academy T-shirt led an effort to pull the single occupant, a woman, from the driver’s side front window.
After exiting the vehicle at about 1:03 p.m., the woman sat upright and spoke with rescuers. The California Highway Patrol and the Santa Barbara County Fire Department subsequently responded to the scene, and the woman was transported via ambulance for further medical attention.
The accident did not impede north or southbound traffic.
“She was still inside the vehicle when I got there,” said Jake DiNolfi, a park ranger at Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area, who was off duty, doubled back after witnessing the crash in his rear view mirror, and helped with the rescue.
The driver, DiNolfi said, was alert and in “surprisingly way better condition than I thought she was going to be.”
