CARLSBAD, N.M. — A police officer with the New Mexico State Police rescued a woman from a burning vehicle in Carlsbad, New Mexico on Friday.
A 55-year-old Alamogordo woman, was involved in a crash that left her unconscious in her burning car, KFOX reported.
The collision occurred on U.S. Highway 285 near milepost 48 north of Carlsbad. The driver was traveling southbound and veered off the roadway for unknown reasons and struck a concrete barrier causing her 2008 Saturn to roll.
New Mexico State Police Officer Edgar Palomarez was on patrol in the area and came upon the crash. The officer rushed to her aid finding her unconscious, not breathing and still wearing her seat belt. The officer pulled her from the wreckage as the engine compartment ignited into flames.
Palomarez began CPR on her, as a good Samaritan stopped to assist him in rendering aid. When the woman began breathing on her own, the officer then extinguished the fire in the vehicle.
After extinguishing the fire, the officer applied tourniquets to the woman’s arms to control the bleeding from injuries sustained during the crash. Carlsbad Fire Department arrived and transported her to Carlsbad where she was then flown to a Lubbock hospital. Her current condition is unknown, according to KFOX.
The cause of the collision remains under investigation by the New Mexico State Police.
