A 17-year-old male was critically injured in a single vehicle wreck Thursday afternoon on Hwy. 53 East, near Byrd's Mini Storage.

Dawson County Emergency Services responded to a call of on overturned vehicle with heavy damage shortly before 3 p.m.

Dawson County Emergency Services Chief Lanier Swafford said that the vehicle was on fire, but the fire was quickly extinguished.

The male was trapped in the car and was extricated by crews from Dawson and Forsyth counties. According to Swafford, the extrication took more than an hour.

The man, who was alone in the vehicle, was in critical condition and was taken from the scene to Grady Memorial Hospital by AirLife Georgia.

As of Friday, no additional information about the man's condition has been released. He is a student at Dawson County High School.

"The school system was saddened to learn about the accident involving one of our high school students yesterday afternoon. Our entire school community is keeping the student and his family in our thoughts, and we are hoping for a complete recovery," said Dawson County School Superintendent Damon Gibbs.

According to Georgia State Patrol spokeswoman Robin Stone, the vehicle was traveling east on Hwy. 53, driving recklessly, exceeding the speed limit and passing vehicles on the right side of the road.

Stone said that the driver was in the right-turn-only lane and on the shoulder as he was passing other vehicles.

The right turn lane ended at a business driveway and the vehicle left the road and continued to travel on along the roadside in a long, grassy area in a fishtail motion for about 485 feet.

The front of the vehicle struck an embankment and vaulted over the business' second driveway. The front end then struck a chain link fence, and the vehicle traveled through the fence and struck a tree.

The vehicle knocked the tree over and simultaneously overturned on to its top.

Check back to dawsonnews.com or see the next edition of the Dawson County News for updates.