A vehicle crashed and caught fire on southbound Interstate 5 just north of State Route 198 in the Coalinga area early in the morning, leaving one person dead.
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. The reporting party advised that two occupants were out of the vehicle and walking around, but the incident was later updated to a fatality involving a single vehicle. 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. and arrived on scene starting at 2:37 a.m. The vehicle was described as a blue 2004 GMC Yukon with front-end and rear-end damage, and only the front license plate remained attached.
The incident was initially reported as a car fire and turned over to Cal Fire, with responders on scene shortly after. Units cleared the scene between 5:08 a.m. and 6:01 a.m.
The identity of the deceased 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/
