3 teens rescued after car goes over cliff near Strawberry - CBS 5 - KPHO

STRAWBERRY, AZ (KPHO/KTVK) - Three Flagstaff teens were taken to hospitals after their vehicle went over a cliff in a remote area outside of Strawberry Wednesday evening. 

According to the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office, the car went off Fossil Creek Road near FR 708 and dropped approximately 100 feet.

"I just remember we had gone really fast around this corner and the car started to lean over, and we all kind of had that moment of, 'Oh crap, this is going to happen,' and then the car just started rolling," said Danielle Goldberg, who was a passenger in the car.

Reporter Greg Argos spoke with Goldberg and Viven Cantrell, the other passenger. The two Coconino High School juniors said their friend Holly was driving. The three had just left an afternoon of swimming at Fossil Creek and were trying to make it home before curfew. 

"I just grabbed onto the window and was trying to hold on for dear life," Cantrell said. "I remember rolling once, (tires) squealing a little bit, and then at the bottom I was just suspended by my seat belt."

"Once we got there and looked down there, it's like, yeah, it's going to be bad," said Pine-Strawberry Fire District Capt. Paul Voakes, one of the rescuers who responded. 

YCSO spokesman Dwight D'Evelyn said the two passengers were removed about an hour after the accident, but the driver was trapped under the Nissan Xterra for more than four hours. 

A deputy noted that there was a depression in the vehicle's roof, which created a cavity between the roof and the ground, allowing the girl's body to avoid the full weight of the car. She suffered what appeared to be minor injuries.

D'Evelyn said the teen was conscious and talking during the extrication.

"She was hysterical, for the most part," Voakes said. "We got her ... to calm down and told her, 'Hey, this is going to be a long day for you.' "

Voakes said he and the other rescuers used high-pressure air bags to lift the vehicle one inch at a time.

"But we had no shoring material to keep the car up, so we start gathering rocks. We had bystanders gathering rocks, and we're working those underneath the vehicle for a little bit," he said.

The driver was eventually able to crawl out from underneath the SUV.

"She got up and looked around, and she actually said, 'I'm sorry,' " Voakes recalled. "At that point, everyone was pretty much quiet because we couldn't believe the extraordinary condition that she was actually in. A few of the firefighters got emotional and broke down at that point."

The driver and Cantrell were taken to Flagstaff Medical Center. Goldberg was taken to Verde Valley Medical Center in Cottonwood. The passengers were released Thursday, and the driver remained hospitalized in good condition.

"It's a miracle that we're all alive," Goldberg said. "None of us should have made it, especially Holly. And the fact that no one has any broken bones or anything, that is a miracle. There's no other way to say it."

D'Evelyn said there were no signs of drug or alcohol use during the initial investigation. Goldberg and Cantrell said they were wearing seat belts, but the driver was not. 

The Gila County Sheriff's Office, Gila County Search and Rescue, and the Strawberry Fire Department were also on scene. 

The investigation is ongoing.