PARAMEDICS have airlifted a man to hospital after he avoided burning to death in a ute near Raywood.
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Emergency crews began racing to the scene of the crash shortly before 3pm on Tuesday after the ute flipped on Pyramid-Yarraberb Road.
They arrived to find a man in his 20s on the side of the road, roughly 15 metres away from his burning silver ute, Leading Senior Constable Todd Deary said.
Police are still to establish what caused the vehicle to veer into the oncoming lane on the straight stretch of road.
The ute glanced off a tree and flipped before slamming, on its side almost 30 metres away, into another tree, Leading Senior Constable Deary said.
"There were no other vehicles involved so I'm not sure, we will have to speak to him [the driver] later to see how he ended up over there," he said.
The force of the crash - and the angle at which the ute hit the second tree - appears to have almost split the ute's chassis in two, though that damage could also have come from the resulting fire or efforts to extinguish it.
Police are yet to confirm what caused the fire but will investigate whether it was linked to the damage the fuel tank sustained in the crash.
It is still too early in the investigation for them to have ruled factors like speed in or out.
The country road is zoned 100km an hour, Leading Senior Constable Deary said.
The man appears to have been conscious when emergency services arrived and when he was loaded onto an air ambulance that landed in a nearby paddock.
They were working to stabilise him before the helicopter took off.
Ambulance Victoria has been contacted for a patient condition report.
It is not yet clear if anyone witnessed the crash but a member of the public was first on scene, Leading Senior Constable Deary said.
Three CFA crews and two SES units assisted at the scene, along with multiple ambulance and police units.
The road was closed in both directions a short time ago but is understood to be reopening soon.
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