Dramatic images have emerged of a car stationed on the roof of a house after its driver lost control of the vehicle and was propelled into the air.
The St. Louis Fire Department used ladder trucks to rescue the driver of the SUV, who drove up onto the homeowner's lawn, which lies on a hill with a steep incline, before launching onto the roof at around midday on Sunday.
Firefighters say the driver was trapped under the dashboard and taken away from the scene by first responders and transported to hospital, the Daily Mail reports.
The driver is said to be alert and responsive but still in a critical condition following the accident close to St. Louis city center, Missouri.
The home owner was at the gym at the time of the crash so avoided harm but his modest property has incurred substantial damage to both its exterior and interior.
The accident also appears to have damaged a neighboring home.
Bruce Redding, who has lived in the home for 25 years and inherited it from his mom, said he was "shaking" when he heard the news.
Redding, 66, who has just finished paying off his mortgage, told local network KSDK that many of the parked cars on the street are frequently hit by speeding vehicles and that "everybody up and down here has had their yards redone" due to other accidents.
The house was all but destroyed by the flying SUV. Photo / St Louis Fire Department Facebook
"I can see straight through my house," said Redding. "This is everything that I've worked for all my life, and for someone to run through a stop sign and destroy it ...
"I'll just gather my thoughts. I'll talk to my insurance people and we'll just take it one step at a time."
Terrell Jones, who lives directly to the left of Redding, said: "So, my initial thought was to find out if he was in the house.
"I had a car smash, turn my railing off. I had another car smash into the side of the house, park right in between our houses," he added.
Michael Arras, the St. Louis Fire Department's deputy chief of special operations, said it was like nothing he had ever encountered as a firefighter and they had to plan accordingly for the unique rescue.
Authorities arrived at the house about 12:40 p.m. to find the SUV on the roof and the driver trapped in the SUV.
"We had accessed the roof and the structure to see if it was safe to get on the roof," Arras said. "It was determined that it was viable. We put just enough on the roof to make the extrication and get off."
Although Redding was was able to maneuver himself around in the living room after the crash the house may not be habitable again. His house is insured.
Locals hope that that the city adds speed bumps to slow the flow of traffic or see the intersection of close-by Lillian and Mimika become a one-way street, to prevent further crashes, reported KSDK.
