Oregon’s Highway 126 follows the McKenzie River, and many sections of the highway hug tall hills spotted with pine trees. On the other side of the highway is usually a steep drop into the river. Last summer, a fire ravaged much of Vida’s hillsides, leaving several large trees scorched and bare.

On February 26, strong gusts of wind blew over the hills surrounding the highway. One man driving his white Dodge Caravan with his two dogs found out why those two factors made for a potentially fatal mixture.

As he drove past milepost 24, a large tree fell from the hillside and impaled the van through the middle of the windshield. The roof had almost completely caved in, trapping the man and his dogs, but by divine intervention, they all survived.

Other drivers scrambled to get the three out of the van before firefighters arrived without any tools, shocking local firefighter Lane Palahniuk. Though, that’s not the only thing that shocked him.

“To see the roof caved in through the whole front and a tree through it is kind of a different feeling,” he told KEZI. “We’re thinking getting chainsaws, cutting up trees, moving rocks, moving mud, and ripping up the car and getting extraction, but fortunately we didn’t have to.”

Locals are used to trees falling, but not like that

Having lived in Vida his entire life, Mike Vanbingenen is no stranger to accidents on that strect of highway.

“It’s typical for what happens here when the trees fall or the rocks fall from that particular slope on this particular turn right at milepost 24,” he explained.

Tina Oyervides is a manager at Ike’s Pizza and, like Vanbingenen, has lived in the area for decades. Falling trees are nothing new—but the high winds and torched trees had everyone on high alert.

“A lot of the trees are burned or gone, so there is no wind barrier, so that wind whips through here and takes out everything. When it gets like that, you hear crackling trees all around you,” she said.

The driver survived but may not walk again

The driver declined an on-camera interview, but a family member confirmed the dogs are fine and the driver is alive, though not well. The crash broke a vertebra in his back, paralyzing his upper body.

The man’s family says he has surgery scheduled soon. Oyervides heard about the crash from reporters and felt relieved to learn he had survived.

“Thank god the guy survived, and I know it must have been a real shocker for him. When we drive this road, people who live up here know this road is dangerous,” she said.