A 45-year-old Ottawa man is listed in critical condition this morning after a single-vehicle accident on U.S. Highway 56, about one mile from the southwestern edge of Douglas County.

Lowell Manis was driving a 1997 Chevrolet Cavalier west on U.S. 56 about 6 a.m. when he fell asleep and the car left the road about one mile east of the Osage County line, said Lt. Steve Lewis, a Douglas County Sheriff’s Office spokesman.

The car went into the northern ditch, struck a culvert, became airborne, struck a farmer’s gate, then rolled over onto its top, Lewis said. The car then caught fire, attracting the attention of several motorists who stopped to help.

Manis was transported to Stormont-Vail Hospital in Topeka, where he remained in critical condition today, according to hospital officials.