VIOLA: Excessive speed reported in Hwy. 44 rollover accident

VIOLA — Officials are at the scene of a minor injury, rollover traffic collision that happened on State Highway 44, west of Deer Flat Rd. and about three miles east of the Lassen National Park entrance, in the unincorporated community of Viola.

LEADING THE SCNS HEADLINES:

Enormous, 28,000 ac. Carr Fire jumps Sac River, roars into W. Redding

First responders attacked with bricks & rocks during Redding medical aid call

Burney woman hospitalized, arrested, after fight involving hedge trimmers, baseball bat

CHP and other emergency personnel were dispatched to the area shortly after 4 p.m., after a motorist reported a “really bad” rollover accident to emergency dispatchers, according to a CHP incident log. The 911 caller reported a Ford F350 diesel crew cab had overturned and come to rest on its roof and was blocking the highway.

According to the caller, the driver of the wrecked pickup truck was speeding and driving recklessly just before the accident happened and CHP’s incident log indicated the caller told dispatchers the truck had been traveling about 70 miles per hour just before the solo-vehicle crash.

Other 911 callers soon reported that fuel, oil, and other fluids had spilled onto the highway and that a passing doctor had stopped at the scene of the accident to assist if needed.

When officials arrived they found the overturned truck still blocking the roadway and reported a “sizable fuel spill.” Because of the excessive amount of fuel spilled, CHP requested CalTrans respond to the scene with absorbents to clean up the spilled fluids. CHP also requested a flat-bed tow to the scene to right the truck back onto its wheels and tow the vehicle from the area.

Officers also reported that the driver had sustained minor injuries in the crash and requested an ambulance continue responding to the scene.

A tow vehicle arrived around 6 p.m. and as of this report was still working to remove the wrecked Ford from the scene.

It was not known if alcohol or drug intoxication were contributing factors in the wreck and CHP has not yet released any information or details about this crash or its cause.

Contact the writer: [email protected]

Trevor Montgomery, 47, recently moved to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for several other news organizations, including Riverside County based newspapers, Valley News, The Valley Chronicle and Anza Valley Outlook, as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County and The Mountain Echo in Shasta County.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center and Lake Elsinore Station, along with other locations.