A vehicle overturned and caught fire on southbound Interstate 5 just north of State Route 198 near Coalinga, leaving one person dead early in the morning.
California Highway Patrol dispatch logs show the incident was first reported at 2:22 a.m. as a car fire in the center divider, with the reporting party advising that two occupants were out of the vehicle and walking around. The logs indicate the vehicle appeared to have front- and rear-end damage and was fully engulfed in flames by 2:37 a.m., with the incident later changed from a car fire to a fatality at 6:01 a.m.
CHP units were assigned at 2:23 a.m. and arrived on scene by 2:37 a.m. Logs show the coroner arrived on scene at 4:57 a.m. No requests for ambulances or CPR efforts were noted in the logs.
The vehicle was described as a solo 2004 blue GMC Yukon with only the front license plate remaining, no longer attached to the vehicle. A tow truck was requested at 4:58 a.m. for the completely burned vehicle, which was impounded under Vehicle Code section 22651(g) for being disabled on the highway.
Units cleared the scene by 6:01 a.m. 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/
