Crime & Safety
Details Released In Deadly Crash East Of Temecula
The fiery crash killed one person and ignited a brush fire.
ANZA, CA — More details have been released about a fiery single-vehicle crash that left a driver dead over the holiday along Highway 371, west of Anza, although the person's identity has not yet been released.
The crash was reported at 2 p.m. Monday on the eastbound side of the two-lane highway, just east of Cahuilla Road, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The male driver of a 2005 Kia Sorento took a curve at an "unsafe speed," went off the road, and smashed into a boulder, causing the SUV to catapult and land upside down. The impact caused the vehicle to burst into flames, according to the CHP.
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A brush fire ignited and the driver died inside the burning wreckage, according to the CHP.
The blaze spread to surrounding brush and burned an acre before its forward spread was halted by Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department crews at about 3 p.m.
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Authorities shut down the highway's eastbound lane and CHP officers were conducting one-way traffic control through the westbound lane.
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