A vehicle overturned and caught fire on Interstate 5 southbound just north of State Route 198 near Coalinga early Tuesday morning, leaving one person dead.
According to California Highway Patrol dispatch logs, the incident was reported at 2:22 a.m. as a vehicle on fire in the center divider, with reports of a possible traffic collision and two occupants out of the vehicle and walking around. The problem was later changed from a car fire to a fatality at 6:01 a.m., with authorities noting a solo vehicle fatality. A coroner arrived on scene at 4:57 a.m., and no ambulance requests or CPR efforts were mentioned in the logs.
CHP units were assigned at 2:23 a.m., with the first arriving at 2:37 a.m. and reporting the vehicle fully engulfed in flames. Firefighters were notified and arrived shortly after.
A tow truck was requested at 4:58 a.m. for the completely burned vehicle, identified as a blue 2004 GMC Yukon with only the front license plate attached, which was towed for an altered or missing vehicle identification number.
The CHP recorded the crash at GPS coordinates: 36.257907 -120.246414
Units cleared the scene by 6:01 a.m. Identities of those involved and the cause of the crash were not immediately available.
Sources:
– CHP CAD incident viewer: https://cad.chp.ca.gov/
