SAGLE - Firefighters from Sagle and Sandpoint rescued an elderly driver who went off Gypsy Bay Road on Tuesday night and became stuck on a steep embankment near the Pend Oreille River.

Sandpoint and Sagle Chief Ron Stocking said 12 firefighters from both agencies used ropes and chains to stabilize the sport utility vehicle, with a fire engine serving as an anchor.

"They could not get close to the vehicle without stabilizing it," Stocking said.

A tree that was sheared in the crash barred access to the driver, so firefighters extricated the man through the rear hatch of the SUV. The man refused medical treatment at the scene.

Stocking said the man was lucky because a registered nurse saw the crash happen. The crashed SUV was not visible from the roadway.

"He would have been there a long time before somebody saw him," said Stocking.

The crash happened in the 500 block of Gypsy Bay Road shortly before 6 p.m.