San Juan Teacher and 2 Kids Saved From Bridge Plunge

A San Juan Capistrano schoolteacher and two children were rescued Thursday as their BMW dangled off a freeway overpass near Buellton.

The dramatic rescue (see video here) unfolded Thursday afternoon when a big-rig truck rear-ended the BMW as it traveled north on the 101 Freeway, knocking the car through a guardrail and sending the truck flying off the bridge into a creek 100 feet below, where it burst into flames, according to the Lompoc Record.

The driver of the truck, 48-year-old Charles Arthur Allison of Grover Beach, was killed. And the occupants of the car -- identified as 36-year-old Kelli Groves of San Juan Capistrano, 10-year-old Sage Groves and 10-week-old Milo Groves -- were left teetering over the creek, according to the San Luis Obispo Tribune.

Kelli Groves teaches first grade at Del Obispo Elementary.

After being pulled from the vehicle, she and the children were hospitalized with minor to moderate injuries, according to news reports.

A group of Navy Seabees stuck in traffic after the accident helped save the family, according to the Record, using a forklift aboard their vehicle to help keep the BMW from falling off the bridge.

Del Obispo Elementary Principal Eric Gruenewald said he had been fielding calls about Groves, but didn't want to comment beyond that.

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