Firefighters work to extricate two women from the wreckage of Mini Cooper that overturned Monday on Highway 101 near Los Alamos. Both were taken to the hospital with serious injuries. 
A helicopter carrying a critically injured woman takes off for Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital on Monday following a rollover crash on Highway 101 near Los Alamos 
A helicopter prepares to take a critically injured woman to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital on Monday following a rollover crash on Highway 101 near Los Alamos
Two women were injured, one critically, in a rollover crash on Highway 101 near Los Alamos on Monday.
Emergency personnel were dispatched at about 8:45 a.m. to the single-vehicle crash, which occurred in the southbound lanes just south of Palmer Road, said Mike Eliason, a spokesman with the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.
They found a Mini Cooper that had overturned and struck a tree on the right-hand shoulder of the highway, Eliason said.
Extensive extrication was required to free the two female occupants from the wreckage.
The passenger was flown by a county helicopter to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital for treatment of major injuries, while the driver was taken by AMR ambulance to Marian Regional Medical Center in Santa Maria with moderate injuries.
Their names and details on their conditions were not immediately available.
Highway 101 was shut down in both directions for a short time to allow the helicopter to land in the center median to pick up the injured woman.
The crash was under investigation by the California Highway Patrol.
— Noozhawk executive editor Tom Bolton can be reached at tbolton@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
