A woman was injured after a pickup truck overturned on southbound Highway 101 just south of the Milpas Street onramp, according to the Santa Barbara Fire Department.
The accident occurred shortly after 10 a.m. and City Fire dispatched 14 people to the scene, said Capt. Mike de Ponce.
The Silverado truck was on its passenger side on the side of the road.
The fence along the railway held the truck from going into the path of the train tracks, but authorities stopped all train traffic for about half an hour while they extricated the driver and a passenger, de Ponce said.
“We stabilized the vehicle and sent one of our personnel inside the vehicle to help with patient assessment, so we could assess the extent of the injuries and see who to pull out first,” he said.
The driver was hanging down, held by his seat belt, and was carefully taken out so he wouldn’t fall on the female passenger. The driver, a male, was able to walk on his own once he was taken out through the windshield, de Ponce said.
The female passenger was pinned by the dashboard and door, and was taken to the Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital with minor injuries once extracted.
As fire personnel were clearing that accident, they were called to respond to yet another wreck, where two vehicles were significantly damaged in a crash on Haley and Garden streets. No one was injured in that incident.
With the first hard rain of a season, the Fire Department was reminding drivers that conditions are different, so more care should be taken while driving. Drivers in both accidents reported that they began to hydroplane, which can happen if someone is driving too fast for the wet conditions, de Ponce said.
“On the last call, I could see the oils on top of the pavement that are starting to wash and move over the roadway, which creates a little more of a slippery surface.”
The slow lane of the southbound freeway was blocked off while emergency personnel extricated the two people from the truck.
— Noozhawk staff writer Giana Magnoli can be reached at gmagnoli@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.