GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- Members of a Grand Rapids family involved in a head-on crash are continuing to recover from their injuries. The accident happened on Coit Avenue near Elmdale Street, Sunday evening.
"It was like an explosion," Tom Rohrer recalled.
Rohrer, associate pastor of North Park Baptist Church, said he heard the crash from inside the building. Grand Rapids police said a speeding driver tried to pass another vehicle and ended up hitting a family of five head-on.
"We ran outside. We saw smoke billowing out from one of the cars," Rohrer said.
He said someone grabbed a fire extinguisher from the church and ran to the car that sat in front of Dr. Dan O'brien's house. O'brien, who heard loud screech and saw the impact, said he also grabbed a fire extinguisher.
"By the time I got back out, they were putting the fire out and getting the last people out of that car," O'brien said.
Rohrer said another doctor happened to be speaking at the church and another doctor lives next door to the church. So a number of medical professionals were on scene before first responders arrived.
O'brien said, "There were a number of people who knew exactly what they were doing."
Rohrer said, "A physical therapist helped one of the men who was obviously shaken - one of the drivers - his family was injured. His wife was trapped in the car."
He said firefighters removed her with the jaws of life as the father continued checking on his 18-month-old babies.
"They were in car seats. You could see that they were injured,"
As Grand Rapids police and firefighters took over, Rohrer said people prayed for the victims and the personnel.
Rohrer said, "A group of us just gathered in a circle and we had a great time of calling out to god for this family, to help them. We found occasion to give thanks to the incredible first responders. Obviously highly trained. We saw them as extensions of god's hand to help these people."
Police said the injuries are not life-threatening. In addition to speed, they believe alcohol may have been a factor in the crash.
