A vehicle crash and fire on southbound Interstate 5 just north of State Route 198 near Coalinga left one person dead early Wednesday morning.
According to California Highway Patrol dispatch logs, the incident was reported at 2:21 a.m. as a vehicle on fire in the center divider, possibly involved in a collision. The reporting party advised that two occupants were out of the vehicle and walking around, and the vehicle appeared to have front- and rear-end damage and was overturned. The call was transferred to Cal Fire, which arrived on scene. The vehicle became 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., arrived on scene between 2:37 a.m. and 2:45 a.m., and cleared the scene between 5:08 a.m. and 6:01 a.m.
The vehicle was described as a blue 2004 GMC Yukon with only the front license plate, which was no longer attached to the vehicle. It was towed as a disabled vehicle.
The CHP recorded the crash at GPS coordinates: 36.257907 -120.246414
Identities and the cause of the crash were not immediately available.
Sources:
– CHP CAD incident viewer: https://cad.chp.ca.gov/
