HOLDEN - One man was transported to Logan Regional Medical Center after he drove his car into the rear end of a large truck on U.S. Route 119 on top of Holden Mountain Saturday evening.

The man, whose identity was not available at press time on Monday morning, complained of chest and hip injuries and was transported by Logan Emergency Ambulance Service Authority.

When first responders arrived on the scene, the Pontiac Grand Prix, sitting off the side of the southbound lanes behind the large truck it had hit, was blazing and the driver lying on the ground several feet behind it, with pants around his ankles, a cigarette in his left hand and a box of Marlboro cigarettes clutched in his right hand. Skid marks scarred the road and a large path of hydraulic fluid had leaked from the lift on the back of the truck where it had been hit.

The driver of the Grand Prix complained to the emergency workers as they tended to him as he lay on the roadside and then loaded him onto a stretcher and into the ambulance, as his car burned just a short distance away and Cora firefighters worked to extinguish the blaze.

"The car hit the truck in the rear end," a first responder on the scene said.

George Hill, chief of the Cora Volunteer Fire Department, said he was passed on the highway by the West Virginia State Police and one of the Cora VFD units and knew there must be a crash ahead. Hill said he arrived on the scene after the truck had been released and was told that the driver of the Grand Prix reportedly said the sun was in his eyes and he didn't see the truck in front of him when he struck it from behind.

The crash was investigated by the West Virginia State Police. The investigating officer was not available this morning for comment.

At least four Cora fire trucks and several firefighters responded to the crash to help control the fire.

Three LEASA ambulances also responded to the crash.

Hill said traffic was "hindered" for about two hours.

Mingo County 911 also dispatched the Lenore Fire Department and Stat Ambulance service to the crash since it was so close to the Logan-Mingo County line. The call from the Mingo County 911 service said the crash happened near Scarlet Road on the Mingo County side of the mountain, Hill said, but it was actually closer to Gaston Caperton Drive on the Logan County side.

Hill said DOH crews had to put "oil dry" down on the road to dry the hydraulic fluid leaked from the truck.