I-5 accident today, sunday april 23...

[jason]

does anyone have any information on the accident on I-5 just north of the 145, and where all the cow fields are? we were stuck in this, and when it finally cleared up, passed the trucks towing the cars away and it looked reeeeeeal bad. does anyone have any info on if everyone was okay or what happened? i've searched all the local news sites and can't find any info on this.

thanks,
jason

[Phil]

We witnessed the accident; it happened right in front of us at about 3:16 pm as we were driving south on I-5 from San Francisco to San Diego. As I saw it, a black SUV about 100-200 yards in front of us began swerving left and right between the two lanes, increasingly out of control. Then it went in a straight line diagonally across the median, which was below road level, and when it came up the other side it pitched up and hit a northbound pickup truck. A car behind the pickup then piled into it. I can't get the image out of my mind of a thousand pieces of black debris flying up into the air just as we passed.

I heard that other witnesses saw the SUV sideswiped by a yellow bus, also southbound, causing the loss of control. I missed that part myself either because of my perspective, intervening cars, or simply because I wasn't paying attention to that lane until the SUV began swerving. The bus didn't stop, so the CHP is treating this as a hit-and-run.

At least three people were seriously injured and were evacuated. I saw two Life Flight helicopters landing. My wife and I, along with many other witnesses, gave reports to the CHP before leaving.

This was CHP Fresno incident 0539, which you can look up on their website:

http://cad.chp.ca.gov/iiqr.asp...

karn (at) ka9q.net

[jason]

wow. thanks for the info. i hope everyone pulls through. just seeing the aftermath of the collision was bad enough. those vehicles were unrecognizable just about. it's a bit of a reality check.

i didn't know that it had started in the southbound lanes. crazy. we were driving north from LA, to SF, and got stuck in it about a mile or so south of the actual incident.

my thoughts go out to everyone involved, and their friends and family.

[david]

There was amajor pile up in the northbound truck tunnel on I-5, between routes 118 and 126. Three are confirmed dead. There is a blind spot in the tunnel, and an accident happened in the north end, and the oncoming piled into it, unable to stop. Gas fires inside the tunnel made it impossible to do anything but wait for more than a day. Temperatures inside the tunnel were estimated to have reached 1500 degrees, reducing some vehicles to molten skeletons. The accident happened at approximately 11:00 PM on Friday night. I read one account that said 31 vehicles were involved. The southbound lanes should open Monday or Tuesday, but the northbound side availability is still in question.

jason wrote:

does anyone have any information on the accident on I-5 just north of the 145, and where all the cow fields are? we were stuck in this, and when it finally cleared up, passed the trucks towing the cars away and it looked reeeeeeal bad. does anyone have any info on if everyone was okay or what happened? i've searched all the local news sites and can't find any info on this.
thanks,
jason

[Steve]

There was an accident on wednesday, January 23rd 2008 at around 4:35PM southbound on the I-5 south of Parker Road in Castaic. The vehicle rolled off the embankment, the driver was taken to a nearby hospital and passed away. I cannot find but 1 story regarding this accident on:
http://www.the-signal.com/...

This man was a family friend and I would appreciate it if anyone who may have seen the accident or has any information could contact me at [e-mail] or simply post something. The family was not notified and had to call hospitals in the area the next morning to try and find him. This is how they found out this terrible news.

Thank You In Advance,

Steve

Thank you in advance

[Mark Burger]

Phil wrote:

We witnessed the accident; it happened right in front of us at about 3:16 pm as we were driving south on I-5 from San Francisco to San Diego. As I saw it, a black SUV about 100-200 yards in front of us began swerving left and right between the two lanes, increasingly out of control. Then it went in a straight line diagonally across the median, which was below road level, and when it came up the other side it pitched up and hit a northbound pickup truck. A car behind the pickup then piled into it. I can't get the image out of my mind of a thousand pieces of black debris flying up into the air just as we passed.
I heard that other witnesses saw the SUV sideswiped by a yellow bus, also southbound, causing the loss of control. I missed that part myself either because of my perspective, intervening cars, or simply because I wasn't paying attention to that lane until the SUV began swerving. The bus didn't stop, so the CHP is treating this as a hit-and-run.
At least three people were seriously injured and were evacuated. I saw two Life Flight helicopters landing. My wife and I, along with many other witnesses, gave reports to the CHP before leaving.
This was CHP Fresno incident 0539, which you can look up on their website:
http://cad.chp.ca.gov/iiqr.asp...
karn (at) ka9q.net

I am the claims adjuster investigating the accident of 4-23-08 on I5 near Fresno/Firebaugh CA. Can you please contact me so we can discuss what you saw? plz email me at mark_burger@farmersinsurance.c om

[Marcell Brickey]

I was there on Sunday and it was horrible. By the time I arrived along with my friend - at least 3 people had been pulled from the burning wreckage of what I think was a mustang - while the SUV was not burning - but inside it was apparent that the drivr must have been dead, judging by the way his side of the car was smashed in. I was up close trying to see if we could extricate the lady in passenger side - who was smashed up against the dashboard with the airbag out. I actually took a fire extinguisher and broke in the passenger side back window - and a man who id'd himself as a doctor came up and said he was pretty sure the lady was deceased.

I must say that there were some amazing people there on the scene who pulled the people from the other car - the victims pulled out were Latino - one man had horrible face injuries - a lady had knee and ankle injuries - but I think they will survive - thank God -

Does anyone know if this accident was in any nwspapers????

Phil wrote:

We witnessed the accident; it happened right in front of us at about 3:16 pm as we were driving south on I-5 from San Francisco to San Diego. As I saw it, a black SUV about 100-200 yards in front of us began swerving left and right between the two lanes, increasingly out of control. Then it went in a straight line diagonally across the median, which was below road level, and when it came up the other side it pitched up and hit a northbound pickup truck. A car behind the pickup then piled into it. I can't get the image out of my mind of a thousand pieces of black debris flying up into the air just as we passed.
I heard that other witnesses saw the SUV sideswiped by a yellow bus, also southbound, causing the loss of control. I missed that part myself either because of my perspective, intervening cars, or simply because I wasn't paying attention to that lane until the SUV began swerving. The bus didn't stop, so the CHP is treating this as a hit-and-run.
At least three people were seriously injured and were evacuated. I saw two Life Flight helicopters landing. My wife and I, along with many other witnesses, gave reports to the CHP before leaving.
This was CHP Fresno incident 0539, which you can look up on their website:
http://cad.chp.ca.gov/iiqr.asp...
karn (at) ka9q.net