Kirkland firefighters extricated an elderly woman trapped in her vehicle after her car went off the road and into the woods on Wednesday night.

Firefighters responded to the one-car accident around 8 or 9 p.m. They found the woman trapped in her vehicle just off the east side of the 11400 block of 98th Ave. N.E. in the Juanita neighborhood. Her vehicle drove well off the road into the woods.

“She was conscious when I got there,” said Battalion Chief Mike Haschak.

However, the woman needed to be extricated and was taken to EvergreenHealth in a paramedic unit. Firefighters did not need to use the Jaws of Life, but did need to use machetes and chainsaws to make a path to get to her.

“This person’s in their 70s so we don’t really know what caused her to go off the road,” said Haschak. “Was it a medical problem or did she fall asleep at the wheel or was there alcohol involved?”

He says her non-life threatening injuries are from the accident itself.

It took the team approximately 20 minutes to get her out. A ladder truck, a fire engine, an aid unit, a medic, the battalion and a medical services officer responded to the scene.

* Disclosure: The victim in this report is a relative of a Kirkland Reporter staff member.