This story has been updated with additional information about how fire crews rescued the people trapped in the vehicle.

Fire crews freed two people from a vehicle suspended vertically after it crashed into a power pole on Franklin Boulevard Saturday night, Dec. 20.

Emergency crews at the scene of a car crash that left a Subaru leaning against a power pole guy wire. Credit: Isaac Wasserman / Lookout Eugene-Springfield / Catchlight / RFA

The blue Subaru Outback’s hood pointed toward the sky as fire crews and medics worked to extricate and provide medical treatment to the vehicle’s driver and a passenger.

Guy wires from the power pole initially suspended the vehicle, with fire crews later putting support poles in place to keep the vehicle upright. Guy wires typically are anchored to the ground to provide stability to a freestanding power pole.

A pedestrian who was struck by the car on the sidewalk sustained life-threatening injuries, according to a statement by Eugene Springfield Fire. Police said the 40-year-old man was alert and able to speak when taken to the hospital.

The crash knocked down power lines, and police shut down traffic along a portion of the busy road from near Villard Street west to Agate Street for more than two hours, police said.

Two people in the car and a pedestrian were injured in the crash. Credit: Isaac Wasserman / Lookout Eugene-Springfield / Catchlight / RFA

Eugene police responded to the crash just after 9:10 p.m. in the 1700 block of Franklin Boulevard. The crash involved two vehicles, police said. One of them, a white Subaru, pulled out of a parking lot prior to the collision.

Police said two pedestrians walking east along Franklin Boulevard jumped to avoid being struck following the crash.

Eugene Springfield Fire Chief Mike Caven said fire crews used adjustable struts and winches to anchor the vehicle, then ladders to help the people out of the vertical vehicle.

“It took about 25 minutes to stabilize the vehicle and get the occupants out,” Caven said in an email Monday.

Caven said the same tools used Saturday night can be used to lift vehicles off of each other or to help during “just about any crazy situation you might find.”

“I think the last time we saw a similar accident was in August of 2024. It’s not unheard of, which is why we train for things like this,” Caven said.

Eugene police said the driver of the blue Subaru, a 77-year-old man, and a passenger, a 45-year-old man, were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Neither the driver nor a passenger in the white Subaru reported injuries, police said.