Firefighters rescued a man whose convertible – a key detail that aided in getting him to safety – crashed off a bridge into a south London creek on Sunday afternoon.
It was shortly before 3:30 p.m. when London Fire Department officials say crews were called to a single-vehicle crash on Wellington Road South – where a red convertible car had crashed into Dingman Creek.
A photo posted to social media showed the vehicle landed upright in the creek, which had “little to no water” in it, officials said.
Jamie Britton, a platoon chief with the London Fire Department, said that upon arrival fire crews walked down the bank to the car. The driver – who he said was the sole occupant – lowered the top of the convertible to “self-extricate” from the car, Britton said.
Firefighters grabbed a traditional tool, a roof ladder, to help him get to safety, Britton said. “Then we used a ladder to get him out of the car, up onto the bank and then the crews assisted him up the bank to (emergency services).”
The driver was being treated at the scene but was “seemingly not too bad,” Britton said, adding the exact nature of any injuries wasn’t immediately known.
Britton said that the driver was heading south along Wellington Road at the time of the crash.
London has been battered with a deep freeze that continued on Sunday. The city woke up to cold that felt like -30 C with the wind chill, Environment Canada said. It was sunny throughout the day but as of mid-afternoon, when the crash happened, it felt like -20 C outside, according to the national weather agency.