SAN DIEGO — Firefighters Saturday rescued a man whose car went off the road in La Jolla and was dangling off a cliff.

The San Diego Fire-Rescue Department first got a call about the incident around 5:30 p.m.

Firefighters said the vehicle went off the road onto rocks on the beach in La Jolla Cove near 1200 Coast Boulevard.

“Very crazy scene,” said Tyler Mitchell, who works at Duke’s La Jolla.

Mitchell said he started watching the rescue while finishing up work at the restaurant, which looks right down at the ocean.

“It was very worrisome at first because you just want to know,” Mitchell said. “I didn’t know how far it was off the edge, then I came down here and it was the front two tires off. It was a lot more nerve-wracking down at this view than up at my angle.”

Firefighters said the driver of the white SUV was parked on Coast Boulevard facing the ocean, but for unknown reasons, the car went over the cliff.

It was a high concern for first responders since high surf waves were just beneath the vehicle.

“Sheer luck the car landed where it was,” said Battalion Chief Dave Seneviratne.

Crews used ropes to secure the car, a life pulley system with their aerial ladder, and lifeguards were on standby to rescue the man.

The rescue took about an hour and a half. Seneviratne said the man has minor injuries.