Emergency personnel respond to a crash involving an SUV, which...

Emergency personnel respond to a crash involving an SUV, which hit multiple trees along William Floyd Parkway, just north of Longwood Road in Ridge on Wednesday, May 27, 2015. Credit: Thomas J. Lambui

A driver walked away with just scratches in Ridge after his sport utility vehicle crashed into trees and flipped against a big one that ripped off the roof and passenger side, a fire official said.

When rescuers arrived, the man's GMC Yukon was resting on the driver's side, with parts of the vehicle spread among a stand of trees and parts of trees inside the vehicle, said Second Assistant Chief Louis Kaiser of the Ridge fire department.

"It was pretty horrific," he said. "In my 20 years of service, I haven't seen anything that bad that people walked away from."

Firefighters got the call at 3:20 p.m. about the crash on southbound William Floyd Parkway, near Longwood Road, and when they arrived, the driver had already gotten out of wreckage, Kaiser said. He was taken to a nearby hospital, he said.

"From what I gathered, he didn't remember what happened," the fire chief said. "He just got transported with a couple of lacerations on his hand."

His Yukon hit four "scrawny" trees before smacking into the hard wood of what appeared to be a pine tree, considered a softwood.

There was "no bark left" on one side of the tree trunk, which was the circumference of a basketball hoop, Kaiser said.

The driver's name was not released.

"He's pretty lucky," Kaiser said. "He should play the lottery."

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