Police have not yet issued citations or filed charges in connection with the crash. Watch video
Updates a story posted at 11:25 a.m.
SPRINGFIELD — A motorcycle operator is in critical condition after suffering burns and other injuries in a fiery crash at the intersection of State, Spring and School streets late Tuesday morning.
Officer Edward Hiney of the Springfield Police Department's traffic bureau said the crash is still under investigation. Police believe the crash, reported at 11:03 a.m., happened as the Jeep's driver attempted to make a U-turn on State Street at its intersection with School and Spring streets. The motorcycle, headed east on State Street, collided with the passenger side of the Jeep.
A set of traffic lights controls the flow of vehicles at the intersection.
The motorcycle burst into flames upon impact, witnesses said. Heavy damage to the Jeep's front passenger-side door was visible. The Jeep's rear bumper sustained fire damage, and the burned bike lay in the street as police investigated the crash.
Fire department spokesman Dennis G. Leger, aide to commissioner Joseph A. Conant, said Ladder 1 firefighters found the crash scene as they responded to a report of a gas leak at 315 State St.
The firefighters used two dry chemical fire extinguishers on the vehicles, and a pressurized water extinguisher to douse the flames that had enveloped the motorcycle operator.
Springfield police patrolman Reggie Miller also happened across the crash scene and is credited with coming to the man's aid "at great risk to his own safety," Leger said.
Several bystanders said they also tried to help the operator in the immediate aftermath of the crash.
Springfield resident Terrell Diggs said he was in a building at the corner of School and State streets when his girlfriend started screaming. As he walked out onto State Street he saw the motorcycle on fire, and the operator – also on fire – lying in the road.
Diggs said he and other bystanders pulled the man clear of the still-burning motorcycle.
"We came and dragged him away from the motorcycle, from the flames, and we started patting him down with our shirts – whatever we could do to put him out, so he wouldn't burn," Diggs said, still holding the partially blackened T-shirt he said he used to try to quell the flames.
"My heart is just, you know, pounding really fast," Diggs said as he recounted the incident.
Korey Los, of Springfield, said he was standing in front of the nearby Dickinson-Streeter Funeral Service building when he witnessed the crash. "Flames were everywhere," Los said. "People were swarming around the car, and the bike was on fire, and he was on fire, so I reached down and grabbed his ankle and I pulled him out from under his bike."
Also coming to the motorcyclist's aid was Jeff Felix, of Chicopee, who works at 310 State St. Felix said he'd just stepped outside for a cigarette break when he heard the crash.
"He was literally engulfed in flames," Felix said of the operator, adding that the man's helmet was on fire and the flames had burned away much of the clothing on his upper body.
Diggs, Los and Felix all said the motorcycle operator appeared to be unresponsive after the crash.
Hiney, of the traffic bureau, said the injured man was taken to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield before being transferred to a Boston hospital. Police have not released the man's name.
The driver of the Jeep, whose name is also being withheld during the investigation, was taken to Baystate with what Hiney described as an arm injury.
Police contacted the district attorney’s office, but have not yet made any determination about citations or any possible criminal charges, Hiney said.
"We're looking at surveillance cameras in the area to determine if there were any red light violations or speeding," Hiney said.
A second motorcycle was seen on its side at the intersection of State and Myrtle streets following the crash. It was not immediately clear if a second biker was involved or injured in the incident.
The eastbound lane of State Street at Spring and School streets, uphill to Federal Street, was closed as the investigation and cleanup continued.
Staff writer Patrick Johnson contributed reporting. Additional updates will be posted as more information becomes available.