A car went out of control in Red Bank on Tuesday and wound up under a house after careening through two concrete walls, a tree and various other impediments.
Rescuers were able to eventually pull the driver out of the vehicle after first shoring up the collapsing house on California Avenue.
Bill Tittle of Hamilton County Emergency Services said arriving personnel from the Red Bank Fire Department found the vehicle in the basement area of the house behind the Taco Bell.
He said it was learned that the man was driving west on Memorial Drive when he went over the railroad tracks, on across normally busy Dayton Boulevard at a high rate of speed and through the exit side of the Taco Bell parking lot. The vehicle then jumped a curb, knocked down a tree, slammed through a wooden fence and went past the concrete block side wall of the house.
The vehicle went through a second concrete block wall before finally coming to a stop.
Help was called in from various units, including Dallas Bay and Walden's Ridge. The Chattanooga Fire Department sent several trucks with heavy equipment used to bolster the house.
It was necessary to remove the vehicle door and part of the side of the car to extricate him.
A paramedic with Hamilton County EMS tended to the man at the vehicle, then he was transported to Erlanger Hospital. He was reported to be in stable condition, but was injured.
Mr. Tittle said it was miraculous "that a train was not on the tracks when he crossed and that he did not hit another vehicle on Dayton Boulevard or a vehicle or a person at the Taco Bell parking lot."
He praised the work of the rescuers and said they were aided by specialized equipment "that we have not had for too many years."