A vehicle overturned and caught fire on southbound Interstate 5 just north of State Route 198 near Coalinga early in the morning, leaving one person dead.
California Highway Patrol dispatch logs show the incident was reported at 2:22 a.m. as a vehicle on fire in the center divider, with possible involvement in a traffic collision. The reporting party said two occupants were out of the vehicle and walking around, and the vehicle appeared to have front-end and rear-end damage. The call was transferred to Cal Fire, which arrived on scene. Logs later noted the vehicle was fully engulfed in flames. At 6:01 a.m., the incident was updated from a car fire to a fatality, described as a solo vehicle fatality. A coroner arrived on scene, and a tow truck was requested for the completely burned vehicle.
CHP units were assigned at 2:23 a.m., with the first arriving at 2:37 a.m. and others at 2:38 a.m. and 2:45 a.m. The vehicle was identified as a blue 2004 GMC Yukon with only the front license plate remaining attached. It was impounded under vehicle code for altered or missing identification numbers.
The CHP recorded the crash at GPS coordinates: 36.257907 -120.246414
Units cleared the scene between 5:08 a.m. and 6:01 a.m. Identities of those involved and the cause of the crash were not immediately available.
Sources:
– CHP CAD incident viewer: https://cad.chp.ca.gov/
