Five Hurt In Fiery Car Crash

NORTH HARWICH -- Two teens suffered life-threatening injuries and three more were hurt in a fiery single-car crash on Queen Anne Road Monday night.

 At around 10:45 p.m., Harwich Police Patrol Officer Jess Ferreira, who was at the highway department on Queen Anne Road, issued a radio report that a vehicle had passed her location driving around 60 mph, Harwich Police Lieut. Aram Goshgarian said. Officer T.J. Griffiths, who was further west on Queen Anne Road, reported that the vehicle passed him and was accelerating at the time. He turned his cruiser around to follow the vehicle, and found that it had left the roadway, broken through a guard rail and landed in the woods near the power lines close to the intersection of Rebecca Road. The collision caused the vehicle to ignite, along with a surrounding patch of brush.

When police arrived, three people were outside of the vehicle. Griffiths used a fire extinguisher to knock down the flames, “and he and Jess [Ferreira] had to extricate the two female passengers in the back seat,” Goshgarian said. The two officers provided life-saving first aid to the most seriously injured patients until Harwich firefighters arrived. When the first fire officials were on scene, the vehicle was fully engulfed.

 Harwich firefighters summoned ambulances from Dennis, Brewster and Chatham and called for two Boston MedFlight helicopters to airlift the two most seriously injured patients, a 17-year-old female from Wellfleet and a 17-year-old female from Brewster. Those two were taken to Mass General Hospital, and the three others were taken by ambulance to Cape Cod Hospital. They were all males from Brewster, ages 17 and 18. 

 The names of those involved have not been released, and their conditions were unknown. All are believed to be students at Nauset Regional High School. 

 Firefighters quickly extinguished the blaze, which destroyed the car and scorched a small area of brush. Harwich police are investigating the accident. 

This story has been updated.