WHATELY — After a roughly 30-minute extrication process, a man involved in a rollover crash near 300 State Road was taken by ambulance to the hospital Monday evening for treatment of what Whately Fire Capt. Wayne Hutkoski said appeared to be minor injuries.
Hutkoski said the patient, believed to be in his 60s or 70s, was driving a white Toyota Camry when it collided with a white U.S. Metal Roofing van that had pulled out of a driveway at approximately 5:15 p.m.
After arriving at the crash site, Hutkoski said Whately firefighters called in assistance from the South Deerfield Fire District to extricate the man from the Toyota using a hydraulic rescue tool commonly known as the Jaws of Life. He was the vehicle’s sole occupant.
“They took the windshield off and then cut the roof,” Hutkoski said of the South Deerfield Fire District’s involvement.
Officers with the Deerfield and Whately Police departments directed traffic around the vehicle, which was flipped on its side on the northbound side of State Road.
Hutkoski said the man was responsive while being extricated from the Toyota.
The van driver, who appeared to be uninjured, declined to comment. The rear end of the U.S. Metal Roofing van was dented.