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A motorcyclist was killed in a crash caused by a drunk driver on I-405 in Irvine. (Photo: Orange County Register | Scene TV)

Fatal DUI crash: Police arrested a drunk driver after a multi-vehicle chain-reaction crash that resulted in the death of a motorcyclist Thursday night on Interstate 405 in Irvine.

•   A southbound drunk driver in a Mitsubishi crashed into a Sentra sedan and knocked it across the center divider into the northbound side of the freeway.

•   The Sentra was hit by an oncoming pickup truck and came to a stop in a traffic lane, where it was hit by an oncoming motorcycle.

•   The motorcyclist was killed in the accident.

•   The drunk driver was arrested on vehicular manslaughter and DUI charges.

The deadly freeway crash occurred at about 11:33 p.m. on the southbound side of I-405 near Sand Canyon, according to a report in the Orange County Register.

California Highway Patrol officials said 27-year-old Leslie Juarez of Laguna Beach was driving a 1997 Mitsubishi Eclipse at a high speed, under the influence of alcohol, when she crashed into a 2006 Nissan Sentra on the freeway.

The impact knocked the Sentra over the center median wall and into the carpool and No. 1 and 2 lanes on the northbound side of the freeway, the CHP said in a news release.

A northbound 1995 Toyota Tacoma hit the  Sentra, which brought the Sentra to stop in a traffic lane on the freeway. A 1999 Suzuki motorcycle was unable to stop quickly enough to avoid crashing into the disabled Sentra, the CHP said.

The motorcyclist — a 32-year-old man from Tustin — was killed. His name was withheld, pending notification of his next of kin.

Juarez suffered minor injuries and was taken to Hoag Hospital to be treated. She was arrested on charges of  gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. Police later booked her into the Orange County Jail, CHP officer Curtis Martin said in a video interview with the Register (via Scene TV).

The accident remains under investigation. The CHP is urging anyone with information to call the Santa Ana office at (714) 567-6000.

Fatal Drunk Driving Accident Statistics

Almost 11,000 people die every year in drunk driving car accidents on U.S. roads, according to federal government statistics published by the non-profit group Alcohol Alert.  Drunk driving deaths account for more than a third of all U.S. traffic fatalities.

Many people believe drunk drivers fare better than their victims on the road, but that is not true. Almost two-thirds of those who are killed in alcohol-impaired driving crashes are drunk drivers.

Drunk drivers involved in fatal crashes are typically not first-time offenders. Statistics show they are eight times more likely to have a prior drunk driving conviction than other drivers involved in fatal accidents.

More than half of drunk drivers involved in fatal accidents have levels of alcohol in their blood that are twice the legal limit — or more.

Irvine Drunk Driving Accident Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented drunk driving accident victims and their families for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

An 18-month-old was killed when a pickup truck slammed into this El Monte bus bench. (Photo: San Gabriel Valley Tribune)

An 18-month-old baby was killed Saturday after she was hit by a pickup truck while sitting on a bus bench in front of a Walgreen’s store in El Monte.

Her grandmother and 12-year-old uncle, who were with her, were hospitalized with major injuries.

•  A young grandmother was sitting at a bus stop with her son and baby granddaughter when a pickup truck slammed into the bus bench.

•   The truck had been trying to park in an adjacent lot and suddenly accelerated and jumped the curb.

•   The baby died. Her grandma was in critical condition. The 12-year-old boy was in stable condition.

The fatal pedestrian accident occurred just after 2 p.m., according to a report in the San Gabriel Valley News.

El Monte police Lt. Richard Cano said a 36-year-old El Monte woman — the baby’s grandmother — was sitting with her 12-year-old son and 18-month-old granddaughter at the bus stop. The bench is on the sidewalk, adjacent to the Walgreen’s store at Valley Boulevard and Mountain View Road.

A 59-year-old El Monte man was attempting to park a 1999 GMC pickup truck in the parking lot when suddenly, for unknown reasons, the truck accelerated through a parking stall and jumped a curb, El Monte Police officer Ryan Abbott told the Los Angeles Times.

The truck then slammed into the bus bench, struck all three victims, and then crashed into a Southern California Edison utility pole and guide wire, police said.

Paramedics rushed the victims to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, where the baby girl was pronounced dead. Her grandmother was in critical condition and the 12-year-old boy was in stable condition, Abbott said.

The pickup truck driver stayed at the scene and cooperated with officers, police said. The crash is being investigated by the El Monte Police Department’s Traffic Safety Bureau.

Alcohol was not believed to be a factor in the accident so no criminal charges were filed.

Pedestrian Accident Statistics

More than 4,000 pedestrians are killed every year — 11 every day — after being struck by motor vehicles, according to the latest National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) statistics. An additional 59,000 are seriously injured.

The latest NHTSA figures show that:

• 69 percent of pedestrians killed in 2009 were males.
• Almost three out of every four pedestrian fatalities occur in urban areas (72 percent).
• The top four states for pedestrian fatalities are California, Florida, Texas, and New York. These four states make up 41 percent of pedestrian fatalities nationwide while only accounting for 5 percent of the total traffic fatalities across the country.
• Nearly one-half (48 percent) of all pedestrian fatalities occurred on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday — 70 percent occur at night (4 p.m. to 4 a.m.).

El Monte Pedestrian Accident Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented pedestrian accident victims and their families for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

A bicyclist died after being hit by several cars on Balboa Avenue in San Diego. (Photo: San Diego Union-Tribune)

Fatal bicycle accident: A cyclist died Thursday morning after being hit by several vehicles on Balboa Avenue in the Clairemont district of San Diego.

•   A cyclist was hit by an SUV and thrown off of his bike.

•   At least two other cars hit him while he was lying in the road.

•   He died at the scene.

The accident occurred at around 7 a.m., according to a Channel 6 News report.

San Diego Police said the cyclist — later identified by the county coroner as 29-year-old David Ortiz of Pacific Beach — was riding a ”black, road-style bicycle” eastbound on Balboa Avenue, over Interstate 805, when he was struck by a blue Ford Expedition.

The impact knocked Ortis off of his bicycle and he rolled onto the road. He was then hit by two other cars in different lanes. The last car ended up on top of the Ortiz’s body, according to an NBC News report.

Ortiz was wearing a helmet but it was destroyed when he was hit by the cars. He died at the scene.

There is no bike lane on Balboa Avenue where Ortiz was struck, but it appears he was in the correct area where he should’ve been biking, San Diego Police officer Mark McCullough said. It was not immediately clear if the area where his body was found is where he was biking when he was hit by the first vehicle.

Police were looking for the driver of the Expedition. Anyone who witnessed the accident or has any information about it is urged to contact Detective John Letteri of the Traffic Investigation Unit at 858-495-7806.

Bicycle Crash Statistics and Safety Reminders

Almost 650 bicyclists are killed an another  51,000 injured in motor vehicle traffic crashes every year, according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA).

The vast majority of those deaths — 70 percent — occurred in urban areas, during daytime hours (between 4 a.m. and 8 p.m.).

Because so many cars don’t look for bicycles on the road, or don’t see them until the last minute, the NHTSA suggests that bicyclists ride defensively. Motorists and bicylists are reminded of these safety tips:

• Bicyclists should always wear properly fitted helmets. A helmet is the single most effective way to prevent head injury resulting from a bicycle crash.
• Bicyclists are are required to obey the same rules of the road as cars and trucks, so be sure to ride in the
• same direction as traffic.
• Cars and trucks must share the road with bicyclists. Allow at least three feet clearance when passing a bicyclist on the road, look for cyclists before opening a car door or pulling out from a parking space, and yield to cyclists at intersections and as directed by signs and signals.
• Drivers should be especially watchful for cyclists when making turns, either left or right.
• Bicyclists should increase their visibility to drivers in every way possible. Wear fluorescent or brightly colored clothing during the day, dawn, and dusk. Use a front light and a red reflector or flashing rear light, and use retro-reflective tape or markings on equipment or clothing.

San Diego Bicycle Accident Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented bicycle accident victims and their families for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

A food truck crash killed one person and seriously injured two others in Los Angeles. (Photo: NBC News)

A food truck driver was killed and two other people suffered major injuries Tuesday when the truck collided with a Mercedes  in the Pico-Union area of central Los Angeles.

•   A food truck crashed into a Mercedes that turned left in its path.

•   The truck overturned and the driver was killed. 

•   A passenger in the truck and the driver of the Mercedes were hospitalized with serious injuries.

•   Police are investigating the possibility that one of the vehicles may have run a red light.

The fatal car accident occurred shortly before 3 p.m. at the intersection of Washington Boulevard and Union Street, according to a report in the Los Angeles Daily News.

Officials from the Los Angeles Police Department said 55-year-old Los Angeles resident Elba Escobar was driving a 1984 GMC catering truck eastbound on Washington Boulevard when a westbound 1991 Mercedes-Benz turned left in the truck’s path. The food truck crashed into the Mercedes.

“Food and debris were scattered everywhere,”  LAPD Central Traffic Division Sgt. Larry Delgado told LA Weekly.

The impact sent the truck out of control and it hit a stoplight pole and a fence before it overturned. Some reports said that Escobar was trapped in her truck, but Delgado told the Weekly she was ejected from the vehicle.

Escobar was declared dead at a hospital, the Daily News reported. Her 38-year-old female passenger suffered moderate injuries and was taken to a hospital to be treated.

The 61-year-old man who was driving the Mercedes suffered a head injury and was taken to a hospital. Police told the Daily News that the head injury was not life-threatening. No information about the severity of the man’s injury or his condition thereafter was immediately available.

Police officials are investigating the possibility that one of the vehicles may have run a red light. They have not yet determined who was at fault.

Occupants of both cars were severely impacted by the accident and damage was extensive to both vehicles. If the Mercedes ran the light, the driver could be held responsible for the death of the food truck driver. If the truck ran the light, her insurance could he held responsible for the injuries of both her passenger and the Mercedes driver. There are numerous possibilities involved in this case.

Los Angeles Car Accident Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented car accident victims and their families for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

Nicolaas Alan Myrtle (inset) faces felony DUI charges after a car accident that paralyzed one daughter and critically injured the other. (Inset: Redding Record-Searchlight)

Warning: This story is heartbreaking.

A 28-year-old father who drove after he smoked medical marijuana and took other drugs faces felony DUI charges for a car accident that critically injured his two young daughters. One of them suffered a paralyzing spinal cord injury.

•   A father smoked medicinal marijuana and then crashed his car with his two young daughters inside.

•   The girls were not properly secured in their child safety seats.

•   Both girls were critically injured. One is paralyzed from a spinal cord injury. The other had injuries to her face and may be blind in one eye.

•   The father is charged with felony DUI, several grave bodily injury enhancements, and chid endangerment.

The drugged driving accident occurred at about 8:45 p.m., according to a report in the Redding Record-Searchlight.

Nicolaas Alan Myrtle of Palo Cedro said the accident happened when he reached back to buckle one of his daughter’s seat belts that had become unbuckled, according to the California Highway Patrol report.

3-year-old Ashlynn Myrtle (left) and 4-year-old Alexis Myrtle were critically injured in a drugged driving accident.

Myrtle lost control of his car and ran off Gas Point Road near the Little League Fields in Cottonwood, about 15 miles south of Redding.  The car hit a concrete bridge abutment. His two daughters – 3-year-old Ashlynn and 4-year-old Alexis — suffered catastrophic injuries and remain hospitalized at Mercy Medical Center in Redding.

Ashlynn suffered a spinal cord injury and is paralyzed from the waist down, according to a report in the Mt. Shasta News. She is expected to be transferred later this week to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose, where she’ll get specialized care for pediatric spinal injuries.

Alexis was on a life-support respirator until Sunday night, but is now breathing on her own. She underwent surgery to repair a deep gash in her face. It is not known whether she’ll have motor function or sight in her right eye.

CHP officer Michael Cregger said Myrtle told him that the two little girls were in their booster seats with their seat belts fastened when the crash happened. But he said the girls had a habit of taking the shoulder belts and tucking them underneath the arm rests of the booster seats.

When Cregger asked Myrtle if that is how the seat belts were positioned on the girls, he “looked down, started crying and shaking his head yes,” the CHP report stated.

Myrtle told officers he had smoked medical marijuana several hours before the accident. Officers found two prescription bottles for methadone and alprazolam (Xanax) in Myrtle’s car.

When officers interviewed Myrtle at the hospital following the accident, he said he had taken two methadone pills around 2 p.m. on the day of the crash and alprazolam about an hour after that. He told officers he takes the methadone for back pain and the other medication for anxiety.

Myrtle remains in Shasta County jail in lieu of $100,000 bail. He faces felony charges for driving under the influence with numerous enhancements for grave bodily injury, and child endangerment. Read the court documents for full details about the charges.

The girls’ mother, Amanda Pevehouse, told the Mt. Shasta newspaper that she’s taking it all one step at a time and is grateful for all the support she has received.

“Thank you to everyone who has been praying for my babies,” she said. “We’re thankful they’re alive.”

A community fund to help Pevehouse and her daughters has been set up at PremierWest Bank. The account number is 68016754. Donations can be made at any PremierWest Bank branch.

Redding Car Accident Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented car accident victims and their families for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

Police said rain caused a fatal crash on Interstate 8 near San Diego State University. (Photo: KFMB 760 News)

Police blamed rain for a fatal car accident Monday morning on Interstate 8 near the San Diego State University campus.

•   A man who was visiting San Diego with friends was driving a rental car when he lost control on the rain-slicked freeway.

•   The car spun out and slammed into a concrete guardrail.

•   The driver died at the scene.

•   The two passengers were hospitalized.

The deadly freeway crash occurred at about 10  a.m., according to a Channel 10 News report.

California Highway Patrol Sgt. Connie Lloyd said the accident was “100 percent rain-related.”

Lloyd said a 2011 red Chevy sedan was traveling westbound in the fast lane at about 65 to 70 mph when the driver — later identified as 33-year-old Bernardo Carrillo Guerra of Mexico – lost control of the car. The Chevy spun out and slammed into a guardrail.

Guerra, who was visiting San Diego with friends, died at the scene, CHP spokesman Art Athans told the San Diego Union-Tribune. The car was a rental.

A male passenger who was riding in the back seat and a female passenger who was riding in the front passenger suffered moderate injuries, Athans said. They were transported to an area hospital to be treated. Athans said their injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.

All of the occupants of the car were wearing seat belts, Athans said.

Lloyd emphasized the dangers of rain-slicked roads and urged drivers to slow down.

How to Drive Safely in the Rain

The three most important tips for driving in the rain are slow down, slow down, and slow down — especially on the freeway, where normal speeds of 65 to 70 mph can prove deadly.

Here are some basic rain safety tips from the Smart Motorist website:

• Slow down. It takes longer to stop or adjust in wet weather.
• Stay toward the middle lanes. Water tends to pool in the outside lanes.
• Don’t follow too closely behind the car ahead of you.
• Stay back from large trucks or buses. The spray from their large tires reduces visibility.
• Be extra alert. Watch out for brake lights in front of you.
• Avoid slamming on your brakes.
• Turn on your headlights so other drivers can see you.
• Before it starts to rain, replace old or brittle wipers.
• Be especially careful when driving through puddles. Some may be deeper than you think.

San Diego Car Accident Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented car accident victims and their families for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

A 100-foot tree fell on a house in Arnold and killed 8-year-old Haley Verzani (inset) in her sleep. (Photo: LA Times | Inset: Daily Mail)

Residents of Arnold, a small mountain community near the Bear Valley ski resort, were devastated by the death of an 8-year-old girl who was crushed in her sleep Sunday morning when a 100-foot tree crashed onto her house.

•   A 100-foot-tall tree was uprooted during a storm and crashed onto a neighboring home.

•  The tree fell into a sleeping child’s bedroom and crushed her in her bed.

•   The 8-year-old girl did not survive. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

•   The tree was growing on someone else’s property.

Ebbetts Pass Fire officials told the Stockton Record they were dispatched to the scene on the 2700 block of Moran Road at 6:27 a.m.

A tree, which was about 100 feet tall and almost three feet in diameter, fell across a creek from a neighboring lot after a night of heavy snow.

Battalion Chief Ron Getter said the tree was completely uprooted from the creek and crashed down through the roof of the single-story house, through a loft area, and into the child’s bedroom. The tree landed on 8-year-old Haley Verzani’s upper body and pinned her to her bed.

Getter said firefighters had to travel through a blanket of new snow on unplowed streets to get to the house. It took 20 minutes to get there, he said.

Ebbetts Pass Fire District Chief David Baugher said rescue crews had to call in heavy equipment to lift the tree off the house, according to an Associated Press report. It took at least an hour to move the tree, Baugher said.

“We used the jaws of life and other rescue equipment to move the tree and get to the child,” Baugher told Fox 40 News.

Haley did not survive. The second-grader at Hazel Fischer Elementary School was pronounced dead at the scene.

The child’s mother, Lindsey Jacoby, was at home with her boyfriend when the tree fell, but neither of them suffered injuries. They were being counseled by chaplains, Getter said.

Verzani’s family told Fox 40 they noticed the towering pine tree was leaning and looked like it was about to fall, but they didn’t know what to do about it because it was growing on someone else’s property.

“We just didn’t know it was going to fall on her like that,” said Kim Christopher, one of the victim’s cousins.

Tragedy at California Ski Resorts: 3 Dead, 2 Caught in Avalanche

The storm that rolled into the region Saturday dumped 6 to 8 feet of snow on some Sierra Nevada ski areas, leading to at least three deaths and several injuries.

Read more: Tragedy at California Ski Resorts: 3 Dead, 2 Caught in Avalanche 

Arnold Accident Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented property-related accident victims and their families for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

CHP officer Doreen Shaw was arrested on felony DUI charges in Redding. (Inset: Redding Record-Searchlight)

With more than 3,500 drunk driving deaths every year in California, it’s shocking news when a California Highway Patrol officer — 42-year-old Doreen Bernice Shaw of Redding – is charged with felony drunk driving.

•   A CHP officer, who was driving drunk, plowed into a group of cars waiting at a railroad crossing.

•   Local police officers who responded to the DUI crash said the CHP officer was so drunk she couldn’t stand. 

•   The CHP officer allegedly screamed profanities at the local officers, tried to get away, and became violent.  

•   She is charged with felony drunk driving and resisting arrest.

Shaw, who was named officer of the year in 2001, cried when she walked into the Shasta County Superior Court on Thursday, according to a report in the Redding Record-Searchlight.

The 17-year veteran CHP officer composed herself and heard the charges against her — two counts of felony DUI with injury, one misdemeanor count of resisting or obstructing officers, and a series of enhancements. (Read the court documents.)

Shaw did not enter a plea. She remains free on her own recognizance and is scheduled to return to court at the end of the month for further arraignment.

The accident in question occurred just after 11 p.m. on January 14, on Highway 273 and South Bonnyview Road. According to a Redding police report, Shaw said that she was an alcoholic and had been drinking all day before the accident. The report states that her blood alcohol level was 0.20 percent, more than twice the legal limit of o.08 percent.

Redding police Sgt. Casey Bokavich told the newspaper earlier that Shaw plowed her 2007 GMC Envoy into the back of a pickup truck that was stopped behind two other cars. The vehicles were waiting for a train to pass at a railroad crossing.

The people in the car closest to the tracks told the Shasta County district attorney’s office they were terrified that their car was going to be rammed into the train, an investigator’s report said.

Four people were injured in the accident.

Police officers said Shaw was so drunk she could barely stand up. They said they tried to treat her very respectfully because they knew she was a CHP officer, but she was extremely belligerent and combative. She reportedly screamed profanities at the officers and rammed one in the side with his patrol car door. She allegedly tried to walk away from officers after she was handcuffed and then kneed an officer in the thigh.

Shaw has been placed on restrictive assignment at the CHP’s Cottonwood truck inspection facility.

Redding Drunk Driving Accident Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented drunk driving accident victims and their families for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

A woman was hospitalized Wednesday after a rollover crash in front of El Capitan High School in Lakeside, about 20 miles northeast of San Diego.

•   A northbound Mustang turning into a high school drove directly into the path of a southbound Buick. 

•   The two cars collided head-on.

•   The Buick overturned, trapping the driver inside.

•   Firefighters freed the driver, who was hospitalized with moderate injuries.

The two-vehicle car accident occurred at about 4:50 p.m., according to a report in the San Diego Union-Tribune.

California Highway Patrol officer Brian Pennings said a 2004 Ford Mustang was making a left turn from northbound Ashwood Street into the high school entrance, just north of Mapleview Street, at the time of the accident.

The Mustang turned directly into the path of 2000 Buick Regal that was traveling southbound on Ashwood Street. The 57-year-old woman who was driving the Buick was unable to avoid crashing head-on into the Mustang, Pennings said.

The impact forced the Buick, which had been traveling at a speed of about 40 miles per hour, to overturn and land upside-down on its roof.

The Buick driver was trapped inside of her vehicle. She was the only person in the car. Lakeside Fire Protection District rescue workers extricated the woman from the vehicle. She suffered moderate injuries and was transported by ground ambulance to a hospital to be treated.

The Mustang was driven by a 39-year-old woman from La Mesa. Her 17-year-old daughter was riding in the passenger seat. Neither of them reported any injuries.

Residents who live on Ashwood Street near the school told Channel 6 News they weren’t surprised that an accident happened there. They said that the winding road is very dangerous because cars drive way too fast.

“We’ve already had accidents where our fence has been taken out on a rainy night when a car came around the corner and knocked over the fence,” three-year resident Chelsea Clark said.

Pennings said that speed was not believed to be the cause of Wednesday’s accident, however. He said the crash was still under investigation.

San Diego Car Accident Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented car accident victims and their families for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.

Passersby rescued a man from his burning pickup truck after a fatal crash in Taft. (Photo: Taft Midway-Driller)

A driver who caused a fatal head-on collision was rescued from his burning pickup truck Monday in Taft, about 35 miles east of Bakersfield.

•   A pickup truck driver crossed a double yellow line on a steep, winding road to pass some slower vehicles ahead of him. 

•   The pickup truck slammed head-on into an oncoming car, killing its driver instantly.

•   The pickup truck burst into flames. Other motorists stopped and pulled the truck driver from the burning truck, saving his life.

•   The CHP said the pickup truck driver had caused the fatal accident.

The deadly car wreck occurred at 4:51 p.m., according to a report in the Taft Midway-Driller.

The California Highway Patrol said 22-year-old Ernesto Rosales of Wasco was driving a full-size pickup truck southbound on a steep, winding section of Elk Hills Road about a mile north of Skyline Road at the time of the accident.

Rosales crossed a double yellow line, apparently to pass the slower vehicles ahead of him, and crashed head-on into a northbound Nissan Altima driven by 27-year-old Andres Elizondo of McFarland.

Elizondo was killed instantly.

The Altima was perched on the shoulder of the road just over a steep ravine.  Kern County Fire Department Battalion Chief Brent Moon said firefighters would have to secure the vehicle or get it pulled back onto the roadway before the victim’s body could be removed.

Rosales suffered major injuries. He was inside of his truck when the engine compartment burst into falmes. The fire was quickly spreading when two other motorists stopped and pulled Rosales from the burning truck, Kern County Fire Department Battalion Chief Brent Moon said.

The two Good Samaritans dragged Rosales to safety — about 150 feet up the road — before firefighters arrived at the scene.

The fire spread from the truck to nearby grass, according to an ABC Channel 23 News report . Kern County firefighters were able to contain the fire to about a quarter of an acre.

Rosales was taken by ground ambulance to Kern Medical Center. Neither his condition nor the nature of his injuries was disclosed.

The accident is still under investigation.

Taft Car Accident Lawyers

The trial attorneys at Blackman Legal Group, a California-based law firm founded by renowned trial attorney Clifford Blackman, have successfully represented car accident victims and their families for 35 years. The nationwide toll-free number to call for a free consultation is 1-866-692-8126.