By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
An Atmore woman miraculously escaped serious injury last Thursday night, June 3, when her car slammed into a welding machine that was sitting in the middle of the darkened eastbound lane of U.S. 31.
Atmore Police Department reports show that 27-year-old Savannah Baggett was driving her 2020 Toyota Camry eastward into Atmore when she encountered the machine just east of the highway’s junction with Cindebran Road around 8:56 p.m.
According to reports, the woman did not see the piece of machinery and hit it “head-on.”
The car went airborne for a brief spell, bursting into flames while it was in the air, then slammed to earth. The Toyota’s engine compartment was torn apart and burst into flames upon impact with the machine, which reports say “most likely fell off a truck that was turning off 31 and onto Cindebran Road.”
Atmore fire and police personnel responded to the mishap. Eastbound traffic was diverted onto Cindebran for most of an hour, while westbound traffic came to a halt or U-turned on 31.