Vehicle Plummets Down Highway 74

A vehicle tumbled about 100 feet over the side from Highway 74 today on the steep mountain grade east of San Jacinto, and rescuers were planning to climb down to rescue the trapped and injured driver, a fire department spokeswoman said.

Firefighters received a call at 8:06 a.m. about the crash, three miles east of the U.S. Forest Service's Cranston ranger station, Riverside County Fire Department spokeswoman Jody Hagemann said.

Firefighters estimated it would take about an hour to rescue the motorist, who at first did not appear to have life-threatening injuries, Hagemann said.

There was no immediate word on what caused the single-vehicle crash, just west of the Strawberry Creek bridge. Traffic was not severely affected on Highway 74, the winding road that connects Mountain Center and San Jacinto, the CHP reported. --City News Service