OCALA, FL (352today.com) – Ocala Fire Rescue (OFR) and local officers acted fast to save a driver from a submerged SUV in Fore Ranch on Thursday night.
On Thursday, October 3, at 9:21 p.m., OFR says that it dispatched a team to an emergency call reporting a vehicle submerged in a retention pond within the Fore Ranch subdivision. They say that according to witnesses, the vehicle sped through the subdivision’s entry gate, struck the controlled access unit, and veered off the road into the pond.
According to OFR, Engine 6 and Rescue 6 teams arrived at the scene behind SW 54th Circle to find Ocala Police Department officers already on-site, breaking the glass of a compact SUV that had become partially submerged. Firefighters joined efforts to extricate the vehicle’s only occupant.
The driver, who they say had suffered a medical emergency leading to the accident, was safely removed from the vehicle. After being placed on a stretcher, the driver was evaluated at the scene and transported to the hospital as a trauma alert, says OFR.
OFR says that no other injuries were reported, and the incident also drew a response from Battalion Chief 11, a Safety Officer, and Marion County Fire Rescue.