An Alabama woman was treated and released at a Corpus Christi hospital on Sunday, April 8, after the car she was riding in hit a piece of firewood on State Hwy. 361, careened off the road, struck a utility pole, flipped on its side and burst into flames.

Port Aransas police patrol officer Seth Rosebrook, who went to the accident, said the firewood lodged between the frame of the car and a wheel, twisting the wheel and forcing the southbound car off the road in the 4000 block of State Hwy. 361 at about 1:40 p.m. Sunday. It hit the electric pole, breaking the pole, and electric wires from the pole started a grass fire, Port Aransas Fire Chief Dwight Kirkpatrick said.

A passerby helped the three women who were in the vehicle away from the scene. Firefi ghters from the Port Aransas Volunteer Fire Department and the Corpus Christi Fire Department put out the fire; crews from AEP (American Electric Power Co.) repaired the pole.

Rosebrook said all three women were walking and not seriously injured, though the back seat passenger was taken to a hospital to be checked. He said a passenger in the car had just moved to Port Aransas and the driver and another passenger were visiting her, but their names were not released.

Traffic on the highway was down to one lane for more than an hour while the accident scene was cleared, Rosebrook said.

No citations were issued in the accident.