A vehicle fire on southbound Interstate 5 just north of State Route 198 left one person dead early in the morning near Coalinga.
California Highway Patrol dispatch logs show the incident was reported at 2:21 a.m. as a vehicle on fire in the center divider, later updated from a car fire to a fatality. Logs indicate it was a solo vehicle incident with one death confirmed. A coroner arrived on scene, and a tow truck was requested for the completely burned vehicle.
Initial reports described the vehicle as overturned in the center divider with front-end and rear-end damage. Two occupants were initially seen walking around the vehicle. The vehicle became fully engulfed in flames, and the call was transferred to Cal Fire, which arrived on scene.
CHP units were assigned at 2:23 a.m., arrived 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 remaining.
The identities of those involved and the cause of the crash were not immediately available.
The CHP recorded the crash at GPS coordinates: 36.257907 -120.246414
Sources:
– CHP CAD incident viewer: https://cad.chp.ca.gov/
