I-10 wreck creates slippery mess after 40,000 pounds of butter spilled

BANNING — Two people were hospitalized after a fully-loaded tractor-trailer semi-truck they were driving crashed in Banning earlier this morning, Friday, June 21. The crash, which spilled about forty thousand pounds of Earth Balance vegetable oil/butter spread, happened on the westbound I-10 at the 8th St. on ramp.

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CHP, along with other emergency personnel, who were first alerted to the solo-vehicle crash shortly before 7 a.m., found a wrecked and overturned white, 2019 Volvo truck tractor. The tractor had been pulling a 2019 refrigerated Utility trailer loaded with butter at the time of the crash.

Both the driver, later identified as Ranvir Singh, a 23-year-old man from Lathrop, California, and his female passenger, 20-year-old Gurpreet Kaur, also from Lathrop, were transported by AMR ground ambulance to Desert Regional Medical Center with moderate injuries. Kaur had been in the sleeper compartment of the truck when the rollover accident happened, CHP later reported.

Two people were hospitalized after their big-rig overturned, spilling its load of more than forty thousand pounds of butter, according to officials investigating the cause of the crash. CHP photo

During their subsequent accident investigation, CHP determined Singh was traveling westbound in the number four lane, at approximately 60 mph, just before the accident.

“Just after he crossed over the 8th Street bridge he allowed his vehicle to drift off the north road edge and onto the north shoulder,” CHP Officer Darren Meyer explained. “Singh lost control of the truck as he attempted to steer it back into the westbound lanes. The vehicle went down the north embankment, across the 8th street on ramp to westbound I-10 and collided with a block wall, north of the freeway.”

The impact of the crash caused the trailer to rip open, spilling its load of butter spread onto the 8th Street on ramp. No other vehicles were involved in the collision.

The 8th Street on ramp to westbound I-10 was closed for several hours as crews cleaned up the spilled load and removed the wrecked tractor and trailer. CHP photo

Alcohol, drugs, distraction, mechanical failure and/or fatigue have not been ruled out as contributing factors in the cause of this collision, according to Meyer, who reported the cause of the crash is still under investigation.

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Trevor Montgomery, 47, moved last year 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 15 – but soon to be 16 – grandchildren.