A 50-year-old Farina woman was flown to a St. Louis Hospital following a fiery two-car head-on crash Monday night on new US 50 near the Flat Branch Road overpass west of Carlyle.
From an eye witness report, a car driven by 24-year-old Stephen G. Doward of Caseyville, was heading westbound in the eastbound lane when he struck an eastbound SUV driven by a 16-year-old on a learner’s permit, with Tina L. Schoenfelder, from Farina as the passenger
Clinton County Deputy Brett Winegarner and Carlyle Police Officer Mark Taylor were the first to the scene. Upon arrival, they observed one of the vehicles with an active fire in the engine bay, and Schoenfelder trapped in the front passenger seat. Both Deputy Winegarner and Officer Taylor grabbed their fire extinguishers and attempted to contain the fire until fire units could arrive.
After the fire extinguishers ran out, the fire began to enter the passenger compartment. Deputy Winegarner and Officer Taylor quickly realized they had no other choice but to attempt extraction of Schoenfelder. Deputy Winegarner climbed into the back seat directly behind Schoenfelder. He was able to reach between the smashed front passenger side door and front passenger seat and locate the handle, which lowers the seat for easier extraction. Deputy Winegarner grabbed Schoenfelder under both arms and extracted her from the rear passenger door opening. Officer Taylor then grabbed Schoenfelder’s lower legs, and the two carried Schoenfelder to a safe distance away from the fire.
Deputy Eben Lisk arrived on-scene as Schoenfelder was being pulled out, and advised the vehicle was fully engulfed in flames within a minute or two of seeing the women being pulled out of the vehicle.
Schoenfelder was taken by ambulance to a local hospital and then flown to a St. Louis Hospital. The 16-year-old driver was taken to a local hospital and later released.
