A house on Highland Road caught fire Wednesday afternoon after a University student veered off the road and crashed into it.
Two men saw the flames, pulled over and helped an elderly woman and her nurse escape the blaze.
Megan Berrigan, a marketing freshman, overcorrected trying to avoid a collision on Highland Road yesterday at about 12:30 p.m., said Officer Geno McKneely of the Baton Rouge Police Department.
Berrigan veered into a house at 5756 Highland Road between College Hill Drive and Sunset Boulevard. She struck the main gas line in the house, and a small spark caused the fire, McKneely said.
Jared Williams, a marketing junior, and Paul Swett, a former University student, were driving past the crash site when they saw the fire.
Swett told The Daily Reveille he saw a woman running away from the burning house. Another man who had also pulled over told Swett and Williams that there were people inside.
“We ran and opened the door of the house,” Williams said. “When the lady saw us, she fell.”
Williams said the woman had a nurse with her, but the nurse was unable to help her up.
Swett and Williams lifted the woman from the house and carried her down the street to wait for help.
Swett said the fire department and the ambulance came quickly but could not put out the fire until Entergy Corp. came to shut off the gas.
Berrigan was charged with failure to maintain control of the vehicle, McKneely said.
Berrigan could not be contacted by press time.
Phone calls to the Highland residence were not answered by press time.