Firefighters douse a sport-utility vehicle, rear, involved in a fiery crash with a Corvette at the intersection of Baltimore Pike and Route 15 Thursday night. (Evening Sun Photo by Brett Berwager)
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At least one man was taken to the hospital Thursday night following a blaze that engulfed two vehicles after a DUI crash on the on ramp of southbound Route 15 at Baltimore Pike.

State police allege Jeffrey Wellborn, 47, of Gettysburg, was under the influence of alcohol and driving his Corvette too fast for condititions. Charges are pending toxicology results, police said.

At about 8:27 p.m.,Wellborn failed to stop for a red light as he traveled south on Baltimore Pike, and struck the Suburban of John Aldridge, 55, of New Oxford as Aldridge was stopped at a red light in the left lane of Route 97, police said.

Both cars were pushed into the intersection of the Route 15 southbound on ramp, and burst into flames as they came to rest, police said.

Joseph Lamendola, a Tom's Gas Station employee, said he was working when he heard the crash.

Lamendola said he ran out of the gas station to find both cars fully engulfed in flames.

The passengers in Aldridge's car had already escaped from the car, but Lamendola said one man was still inside the Corvette while it was on fire.

Lamendola and another man, who declined to be interviewed, ran to the flaming car and pulled the driver through the window, taking him back to a telephone phone.

Lamendola said they decided to move the man back farther because the cars were making "popping" sounds.

Minutes later, Lamendola said, it exploded.

State police at Gettysburg had not released the names of the people who had been taken to the hospital as of late Thursday night.

Lamendola said he had to "yank" the driver, who was then conscious, out of the vehicle, but that he later lost consciousness. He added that the man had no pulse.

Lamendola's girlfriend, Danielle Birgensmith, said she heard people screaming to call 911 after the crash, and did so on her way out of the store.

Being CPR trained, Birgensmith said she was concerned she might have to perform CPR on the

Steam and smoke rise from the wreckage as firefighters from Gettysburg put out remaining hot spots from the fire. (Evening Sun Photo by Brett Berwager)
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injured man.

But first responders arrived before she had to.

"It's something I never thought I'd see in person, only in movies" she said.

Birgensmith and Lamendola were visibly shaken after the accident.

"I was more worried about him than I was myself," Lamendola said, adding that he didn't think twice before running toward the fire.

The sports-utility vehicle was destroyed by flames from the driver's seat back.

The Corvette's frame was completely disintegrated, leaving only the bottom of the car and parts of the seats. Gettysburg Fire Department was able to extinguish the fire within minutes of arriving.

Both vehicles were towed from the scene.

Contact Katharine Harmon at kharmon@eveningsun.com.

The wreckage of a Corvette involved in a fiery crash gets loaded onto a rollback tow truck Thursday night on Baltimore Pike at the southbound ramp of Route 15 near Gettysburg. (Evening Sun Photo by Brett Berwager)
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