Neighbors, Unionville firefighters and Butler Ambulance personnel combined Friday to rescue a woman from a minivan that landed upside-down in a creek along West Brewster Road in Center Township.

CENTER TWP — A volunteer firefighter and a West Brewster Road resident pulled out the driver of an overturned minivan in a creek Friday morning.

The woman, whose name was unavailable, was flown by medical helicopter to UPMC Presbyterian hospital in Pittsburgh.

Unionville Assistant Fire Chief Mike Iscrupe, a township road department worker who was mowing berms on the nearby Heinz Road, responded to the 9:37 a.m. 911 call, helping township resident Kenneth McGallis rescue the woman.

“She was submerged in water,” Iscrupe said.

McGallis cut the seat belt since it would not release.

“We pulled the driver out of the car,” Iscrupe said.

The men took the woman up the steps that lead from the adjoining property into the creek.

The Chrysler Town and Country appeared to have been traveling eastbound when it veered off the road through grass into the creek.

The driver's teenage daughter was able to get herself out of the vehicle.

She then went to the closest residence, alerting Linda Bates to the minivan falling into the creek at 291 W. Brewster Road.

Bates said she unsuccessfully tried to get the driver's seat belt loose before waving down McGallis.

The girl, who told Bates she was 18, rescued a kitten that was in the vehicle.

State police are investigating the cause.

Bates said that the bend in the road has been the site of at least eight accidents, including bicycles and four-wheelers, since she lived there.

Iscrupe pointed out the value of the township permitting volunteers on its road crew to leave the job for emergency calls.

Fire Chief Nathan Wulff agreed, saying that helped the driver in this case.

“That did make the difference,” Wulff said.