Rollover in Kelowna may have involved alcohol

KELOWNA, B.C. – An accident on Springfield hill in Rutland early Thursday morning sent two people to hospital.

A vehicle was traveling east on Springfield Rd. up the hill when the driver lost control and hit a light pole. The black SUV rolled once before coming to rest on the side of the road and catching fire.

Brett Thompson lives on the corner of Springfield and Hollywood Rd. South and says he rushed out of his house when he heard the sound of screeching tires and crunching metal.

“I also heard what I’m pretty sure was the top of the light standard hitting the ground,” he says.

Thompson found two men and one woman already out of the vehicle and a small fire under the front end.

“I ran up and there was one occupant near the vehicle who couldn’t really move,” he says. “He had gotten out of the car on his own so I just kind of helped him hop a short distance away.”

Thompson says the fire started to get bigger so he carried the man, estimated to be in his mid-20’s, to a safe area near the road.

“The driver had a cut on his hand and the man I helped couldn’t put any weight on his knee,” he says. “Everybody was fully lucid and conscious.”

Const. Kris Clark says the novice driver had too many occupants in the vehicle and failed a roadside breathlyzer. Because of his injuries he was not taken to the detachment but a blood order was requested from the hospital.