A single-vehicle crash and fire on southbound Interstate 5 just north of State Route 198 near Coalinga left 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 vehicle on fire in the center divider, with the problem later changed from a car fire to a fatality at 6:01 a.m. Logs indicate a single vehicle was involved, and a coroner arrived on scene. A tow truck was requested for the completely burned vehicle.
Logs show the vehicle was fully engulfed in flames, with firefighters responding. Initial reports noted two occupants had exited the vehicle and were walking around, but authorities later reported the fatality.
CHP units were assigned at 2:23 a.m., arrived on scene starting at 2:37 a.m. and cleared the scene by 6:01 a.m.
The vehicle was described as a 2004 blue GMC Yukon with front-end and rear-end damage and only the front license plate remaining.
The identity of the person who died 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/
