Car crashes into pillar under I-85, catches fire

A car was removed from the scene of a fiery crash at Cheshire Bridge Road and I-85 in Atlanta. JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM

A car was removed from the scene of a fiery crash at Cheshire Bridge Road and I-85 in Atlanta. JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM

Two people are in serious condition after crashing into a pillar on Cheshire Bridge Road under I-85.

Officers responded to the accident about 3:46 a.m. Wednesday, Atlanta police Capt. Brian Schiffbauer said.

“They found a vehicle to be engulfed in flames with two people still inside,” he said.

Atlanta police and fire officials responded to a fiery crash Wednesday. JOHN SPINK / JSPINK@AJC.COM

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The officers got fire extinguishers out of their police cars, busted car windows and started extinguishing the blaze before firefighters arrived.

The fire was starting to burn the driver and passenger in the vehicle at the time, Schiffbauer said.

They were taken to Grady Memorial Hospital in serious condition.

The officers “hands down saved their lives,” Schiffbauer said.

No other vehicles were involved in the accident, which shut down Cheshire Bridge Road until about 5:40 a.m., according to the WSB 24-hour Traffic Center.

The cause of the crash, the names of the victims and other details have not been released.

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