Officials at scene of fiery, solo-vehicle rollover near Big Valley Summit

BIG VALLEY SUMMIT — Emergency personnel are at the scene of a fiery, single-vehicle accident involving a pickup truck that overturned between McArthur and Nubieber earlier this evening. The crash happened on SR-299, near Big Valley Summit, according to a CHP incident log.

CHP and other emergency personnel were dispatched to the scene at 7:14 p.m., after receiving reports of an unknown-type large truck that had overturned and burst into flames.

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A CalFire/Susanville Fire engine company happened to arrive at the scene even as witnesses were still calling 911 to report the accident. Firefighters advised finding a truck “fully engulfed” in flames and told SHASCOM dispatchers they were unable to provide any description of the vehicle at that time. The vehicle was later described as a “large repair vehicle, possibly a Ford F350.”

Firefighters reported all victims had made it out of the burning vehicle with minor injuries, but officials did not specify the number of victims or the nature or extent of the victim’s injuries.

Officials later reported that flames from the burning truck had begun to spread to area vegetation and that the wreckage and debris was blocking both sides of the highway, with both directions of travel quickly backing up several miles.

Firefighters managed to knock down the vehicle and vegetation fires and CHP requested CalTrans respond to the scene with a snowblade to try to clean up debris that had melted and stuck to the highway. CHP’s incident log did not specify the type of debris that needed to be removed from the highway, but did indicate that nobody with a snowblade would be available for at least two more hours.

Over the next several hours, SHASCOM contacted more than a half-dozen towing companies in the area, with none available or willing to respond to the scene.

Redding based California Towing eventually agreed to send two of their vehicles out, but at 11 p.m., the tow truck drivers responding to the scene became stuck in heavy traffic caused by the wreck. CHP quickly cleared one side of the highway and authorized the employees to drive on the wrong side of the mountain road to reach the scene.

About 45 minutes later, tow employees trying to remove the destroyed truck from the scene reported the truck fire had reignited and requested firefighters respond back to the scene. Firefighters quickly extinguished the fire and as of this report, were standing by while the tow company finishes removing the burnt and destroyed vehicle from the scene.

CHP has not yet released any information about this accident investigation, which is active and ongoing.

 

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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 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.

Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.

Trevor has been married for more than 28 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 14 – but soon to be 16 – grandchildren.

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