A Lake Havasu City woman was conscious, alert and communicating with emergency responders Thursday morning as they exhausted all resources to free her body from beneath a bread truck.

Local emergency responders work to free Teresa Friend, of Havasu, from the wreckage of a three-vehicle collision Thursday at State Route 95 and South Palo Verde Boulevard. Friend was trapped inside her vehicle for 89 minutes after the accident. Jayne Hanson/News-Herald Photos

The collision occurred about 8:04 a.m. Thursday after Ryan Parks, 31, of Havasu, reportedly ran a red traffic light at the intersection of South Palo Verde Boulevard and State Route 95. Parks was traveling northbound on SR95 in a white 2008 Chevrolet pickup when the he struck a bread truck. Park’s estimated speed was at least 50 mph at the time of impact, police said.

The bread truck, a one-ton van, was driven by Walter Willingham, 57, also of Havasu. Willingham was eastbound on South Palo Verde Boulevard and crossing SR95 on a green traffic light when the collision occurred.

After impact, the two vehicles began a clockwise rotation that ensnared a third vehicle. The third vehicle, a tan 2003 Ford Taurus, driven by 48-year-old Teresa Friend, of Havasu, was westbound on South Palo Verde and crossing SR95 on a green traffic light. All three vehicles came to rest on the northeast corner of the intersection, with Friend trapped inside her vehicle.

“The lady was pinned between the car and the bread truck,” said Battalion Chief Rick Felish, Lake Havasu City Fire Department. “From what I understand, her whole body was pinned.”

Local firefighters utilized an arsenal of hydraulic extrication tools including the jaws-of-life cutters, spreaders and cribbing blocks, power saws, hydraulic jacks, to stabilize the vehicles and cut the woman free.

After 89 minutes, the woman was disentangled from the wreckage at 9:33 a.m., said Lake Havasu City Police Sgt. Keith Huskisson.

“She was conscious, alert, and talking to the paramedics, who were asking her questions to determine her level of consciousness,” Huskisson said.

Huskisson described her position as wedged between the seat and a slightly ajar driver’s door, hunched in a way that her chin was resting on the driver’s door armrest near the latch-mechanism edge of the door.

“She was bent over beneath everything with the bread truck over the top,” he said. “She was trapped in a very confined space.”

Native Air medical helicopter landed on South Palo Verde Boulevard immediately east of SR95 and air-evacuated Friend from the scene. She was flown to University Medical Center in Las Vegas.

University Medical Center spokeswoman Danita Cohen said late Thursday Friend is in serious condition.

Because of the severity of the accident, Parks was subject to standard field sobriety tests and a portable alcohol breath test. The tests determined Parks displayed no signs of impairment and the results of the portable alcohol breath tests were .000, police said.

Parks and Willingham received minor injuries and were treated and released by paramedics at the scene, police said.

State Route 95 remained closed from Mesquite Avenue and Industrial Boulevard for three-and-a-half hours for accident investigations and cleanup. During that time, traffic was routed onto London Bridge Road and Lake Havasu Avenue, Huskisson said.

A half of a dozen eyewitnesses remained on scene to assist police in providing witness statements, which police appreciated, Huskisson said.

Lake Havasu City firefighters from Engine 5, Engine 2 and Rescue 42 responded to the scene. River Medical ambulance service responded with two ambulances. Lake Havasu City Police provided traffic control measures as did Arizona Department of Transportation.

You may contact the reporter at jhanson@havasunews.com.