Driver of pickup killed in fiery crash on 5 Freeway in Castaic

Driver of pickup killed in fiery crash on 5 Freeway in Castaic

by Jonah Valdez

The driver of a pickup truck died Wednesday morning after ramming into the rear of a tractor-trailer, then exploding into flames on the 5 Freeway in Castaic, authorities said.

The early hours crash forced the closure of all northbound lanes on the freeway for much of the morning, causing severe traffic congestion for commuters.

Authorities began receiving calls about a pickup truck hitting the rear of a tractor-trailer along the northbound lanes of the Interstate 5 Highway north of Hasley Canyon Road at 5:37 a.m., said California Highway Patrol Officer Eric Priessman. Officers arrived to find the pickup truck lodged under the trailer of the big rig.

With the driver still inside, the pickup truck then erupted in flames, Priessman said.

Fire crews with the Los Angeles County Fire Department extinguished the fire in about 10 minutes, said Marvin Lim, spokesman for the department. But the driver was pronounced dead at the scene.

Authorities were not able to immediately identify the dead person or the gender or age, Priessman said. The driver of the tractor-trailer was not injured.

After a closure of all northbound lanes on the highway, authorities gradually reopened lanes to traffic until just before 11 a.m., when all lanes were accessible.

The cause of the crash was still under investigation.

All credit goes to Jonah Valdez Originally published on https://www.dailynews.com