Spate of crashes keeps crews busy

FENCE: A middle-aged woman was taken to hospital for assessment after a car in which she was travelling punched through the fence of a Masterton property yesterday afternoon. PHOTO/NATHAN CROMBIE

A man was airlifted to Wellington Hospital with critical injuries after losing control of his car and hitting a tree on a South Wairarapa road early on Saturday.

The man, 46, was the sole occupant of the vehicle, which was discovered on its roof in a ditch beside Kahutara Rd about 3am on Saturday.

A hospital spokesman said yesterday the man remained in intensive care and listed his condition as stable.

Police Inspector Chris Tate said a passing driver had initially found the man on Saturday.

A Featherston fire crew along with ambulance and police officers were sent to the crash scene and the serious crash unit was investigating, he said.

Life Flight crewman Julian Burn said the man had been airlifted from the scene in a critical condition with life-threatening injuries.

In a separate incident a crash involving two cars on the Rimutaka Hill Rd on Saturday afternoon won the attention of a Stokes Valley squad of firefighters who were returning home after a major fire drill in Wairarapa earlier in the day.

Fire crews from several brigades were leaving Wairarapa when the two cars collided near the Rimutaka Hill summit.

Stokes Valley firefighters were first to the crash but stood down after Featherston Fire Brigade arrived.

The collision blocked a lane for half an hour and while the two drivers were unhurt, paramedics checked a woman passenger for injuries.

Meanwhile, a Masterton woman was taken to hospital after a car she was travelling in ploughed through a residential fence in the town yesterday.

A man in the car escaped injury in the incident, which happened about 12.30pm.

A stretch of Cockburn St was briefly cordoned off while firefighters cleared debris at the crash scene.