Hopland firefighters rescue woman after crash sends Camaro off cliff, 200 feet down

Two vehicles collided Sunday night on a rural, winding stretch of Highway 175, the impact sending one driver over a cliff and down about 200 feet, Hopland Fire Chief Mitch Franklin said Monday.

There were no injuries from the 9 p.m. collision, between a new Camaro and a pickup, Franklin said. The crash occurred at the point on the highway where Mendocino and Lake counties connect.

Hopland firefighters arrived to find three people in the pickup, and the Camaro over the embankment in the darkness. Four firefighters used ropes and carried lights as they lowered themselves down to the demolished vehicle and found an uninjured woman sitting inside.

Her Camaro hIt a tree going down the embankment and “that stopped her from rolling 1,000 feet to the bottom; it’s so steep,” Franklin said.

Firefighters helped the woman get back up to the highway where CHP officers were investigating the collision.

You can reach Staff Writer Randi Rossmann at 707-521-5412 or randi.rossmann@pressdemocrat.com.