A tree collapsed onto a red Jeep driving east on SW Market during a windstorm on March 15.
Emergency responders used the Jaws of Life to release a 19-year-old female. Passers-by broke branches to help release the trapped driver before emergency services arrived.
The victim was in stable condition and conscious after being freed from the car, according to authorities. No one else was hurt in the accident.
Annalisa Seibert and Victoria Marinelli witnessed the incident while parking near the Portland Art Museum.
“We were parking over [on SW Clay] and we saw it,” Seibert said. “This car came up and the tree, just out of nowhere, the roots came up and it fell right over.”
Streetcar line NS running east on SW Market and SW Park was blocked off.
Chris Lawrence, the operation supervisor at Portland Streetcar, said the city of Portland and Portland State were trying to decide who was responsible for the tree debris.
“We are in a holding pattern until this tree gets cleared,” Lawrence said.
The tree barely missed the PSU sign. The city of Portland made arrangements to clear the wreckage throughout the night and the following day.
See the video story:
And watch the raw footage of the scene before authorities arrived:
