1 Dead, 1 Arrested, Many Hurt In Double Crash Closing 101: CHP

PALO ALTO, CA — In a tragic turn of events Sunday morning resulting in the closure of U.S. Highway 101 in both directions, a man died in a fiery crash traveling southbound the wrong direction in the northbound lanes, the California Highway Patrol reported.

The man, whose identity is undisclosed, crashed head-on at 2:17 a.m. with his Chevrolet Impala between Embarcadero Road and University Avenue into a Mercedes driven by 25-year-old San Mateo man whose leg was broken, the CHP added. His identity has not been released either.

The cause of the crash is "unknown" and under investigation.

"We don't know another reason that a driver would be going the wrong direction on the freeway," CHP Redwood City spokesman Art Montiel told Patch Monday morning when asked whether alcohol or drugs were a factor.

Adding to the dramatic incident, the vehicles caught on fire, prompting a response from the Menlo Park Fire Protection District, among other agencies showing up to the chaotic scene. The display caught the attention of motorists heading southbound, which brought on another nearby crash on the other side of the highway.

Several more people were injured and one person arrested when a motorist driving a BMW with three other passengers looked at the first crash and collided with a Honda at 2:48 a.m. Then, a Nissan collided with that vehicle and a woman walking into the southbound lanes in a chain reaction crash on the other side of the busy freeway, bringing out a number of ambulances. The Honda and Nissan drivers had no other passengers.

The Nissan driver identified as Shawn Thomas, 44, of Sunnyvale, was taken into custody on suspicion of DUI.

Traffic was flowing on both sides of Highway 101 by 7:30 a.m.

"Pay attention" were the two words of caution Montiel provided with the second crash. Drivers looking at crash scenes sometimes cause either another collision or additional chaos that has some first responders improvising in how to best treat the situation.

After responding to the first fatal, fiery crash, firefighters on Menlo Park's Engine 2, who were reloading their hose lines at the time from the first crash, jumped over the concrete highway barrier to care for at least two patients in the northbound lanes to keep them unharmed, while Palo Alto Fire units responded to their jurisdiction.

Menlo Park Fire Chief Harold Schapelhouman called the time "the bewitching hour," referring to a time in the overnight when the bars close.

"It was a crazy, chaotic and tragic night out on Highway 101 (Sunday morning) — first, with a wrong way driver that resulted in a fatal vehicle fire and another person critically injured. Then with a motorist in the opposite lanes, I’m guessing, wanting to either take a good look, or perhaps even use their phone to take pictures, that triggered a chain reaction with multiple other vehicles running into each other in the southbound lanes that resulted in more people needing be transported to the hospital and the entire freeway needing to be shut down, which rarely happens," Schapelhouman summed up the scene. "This was also the second fire related fatality our crews have responded to in the last 30 hours.”

Menlo Park Fire also responded to a fatal scene in which a woman burned in a fire in a separate incident Friday night.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to contact the CHP station in Redwood City at 650-369-6261.

—Bay City News contributed to this report.