The ute that crashed ended up on railway tracks, which were accessible to emergency services from a walkway (below).
The screech of tyres and then a bang alerted a former chief fire officer at Dunedin's Ravensbourne station to a fatal crash near his house.
One person died in yesterday morning's crash and two people were taken to Dunedin Hospital with moderate injuries.
Ross Bryant had been lying awake at his Maia home about 3.45am when he heard the sounds that jolted him out of bed and swiftly to the fire station.
"I knew immediately it was something major," he said.
His wife, Gill, called emergency services.
A ute had gone through a fence, rolled and ended up on railway tracks below Ravensbourne Rd, State Highway 88.
One person was able to get out of the vehicle and Gill Bryant communicated that help was on its way.
The couple's son, Jason, is the current Ravensbourne chief fire officer.
Firefighters had to get access to the ute by foot from the bottom of Jessie St, Jason Bryant said.
They were assisted by firefighters from the Willowbank station but did not need cutting equipment to get a second person out of the vehicle, he said.
Ross Bryant said the second patient was taken on a stretcher to an ambulance in Jessie St.
"Accessibility down there is pretty limited."
A St John spokeswoman said the two patients suffered moderate injuries and were taken to Dunedin Hospital.
One was later reported to be in a stable condition and the other was discharged.
Police said the third person in the vehicle died at the scene.
A police spokeswoman said the state highway, which was closed through the morning, reopened about noon.
A member of the public told the Otago Daily Times she saw a car full of people doing a burnout in Ravensbourne Rd near Maia last night.
When she approached the car, worried about the smell of burning, a male said "our friend's just died".
A police spokeswoman confirmed police had received reports of up to three cars doing burnouts in Ravensbourne Rd between Jessie St and De Lacy St at 8.53pm, but they had been unable to locate the cars.
The circumstances around the death are being treated as unexplained.