BEATRICE -- A car left Highway 77 hitting a convenience store building early Friday, touching off a fire.

The car struck a Casey's General Store in Beatrice, sending fire and police there.

"In the corner of the building, there's pretty decent fire damage," Beatrice Fire and Rescue Chief Brian Daake said. "So it's probably going to be a little bit before they're able to get back up and operating."

Daake says the driver of the car was a 17-year-old female who was taken by an ambulance to the Beatrice Municipal Airport, then airlifted by medical helicopter to a Lincoln hospital.  Daake said she suffered critical injuries.  

The car missed gas pumps and propane cylinders, but plowed into an office area and the cashier area of the store.