4/18/2023 0 Comments Car crash elk grove ca![]() ![]() ![]() In that accident, 17 people were killed and 151 were injured near Coalinga in the San Joaquin Valley. That crash, however, involved poor visibility because of dust, not fog. The nation's worst pileup occurred in 1991, also on I-5. A few farmers stood by fences to watch the aftermath.įog is frequent along the highway in that area, although the state does not maintain automated warning signs that are triggered by low visibility, as it does south of Stockton and in the San Joaquin Valley. The acrid odors of burning fuel, oil and metal were picked up by the wind and filled the rural air that usually carries the scent of hay and cow pastures. The accident occurred about one mile south of Hood-Franklin Road in southern Sacramento County, past the southern suburbs of the capital, where farms and ranchlands begin. Thirteen ambulances and three helicopters carried the injured to five hospitals. My whole business is gone." MASS OF EMERGENCY VEHICLESĪbout 160 firefighters battled the blaze and searched for victims. "It burned right down to the frame," he said. Some vehicles were swiftly surrounded by fire, but Halling said flames did not engulf his truck until about half an hour after the initial crash. He (the driver in front) had squished a passenger car." He saw brake lights from the truck in front of him. "All of a sudden, the visibility dropped down to 50 feet," he said. Halling said he was northbound with a load of swimming pool supplies. Traffic on an 8 1/2-mile stretch of I-5, California's main north- south artery, was diverted onto rural and suburban roads through the night as authorities examined the wreckage under the glare of portable floodlights.Ĭaptain Dave Ritter of the CHP said investigating and clearing the highway would require "an extended closure."ĭrivers said the accident occurred when they suddenly entered a bank of fog a few minutes before sunrise. But the word "fatal" had been written in chalk on its cab. The wreckage included a diesel fuel tanker, which was not carrying a load and did not explode. The smoldering, mangled vehicles jammed the freeway in a twisted mass of steel, aluminum, rubber and glass. ![]() Its flames, which sent thick columns of dense black smoke into the sky, apparently were fed by an estimated 700 gallons of fuel that spilled from the ruptured tanks of trucks and cars. "It was like Vietnam, with all the explosions going off," said truck driver Herb Halling, who lost his rig to the blaze. Police and rescue crews closed I-5 in both directions, and the freeway was not expected to open until after today's morning commute.Īt one point, 64 fire trucks filled the southbound lanes, their crews fighting the fires in the adjacent northbound lanes. "All I can tell you is that the child probably died before the fire got to the vehicle," said Elk Grove Fire Chief Mark Meaker. Last night, coroners officials identified the child "A woman was crying that her baby was still in the car." "We got three people out, but we couldn't get near the flames again," said truck driver Gary Simpson. The hulks of burning trucks were fused by the heat to the crushed cars, forming a grotesque frieze of death and destruction. The pileup sparked explosive fires with flames so intense that aluminum trailers and tires on many vehicles melted. occurred in the northbound lanes of I-5 in rural Sacramento County, about 12 miles south of the state capital. ![]() Twenty-six people were injured, 23 of whom were taken to hospitals, some by helicopter. ![]()
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