Last Updated on June 1, 2021 by CCAR Staff
A car’s driver was killed when the vehicle veered off Highway 371 on Monday in a remote area of Riverside County, plunged into a deep ravine, burst into flames and sparked a brush fire, authorities reported.
The driver, believed to be the only occupant of a 2005 red Kia, was not identified as of Monday afternoon, the California Highway Patrol’s Border Area reported.
The crash occurred less than a mile east of the Cahuilla Casino in Anza shortly after 2 p.m.
That portion of Highway 371 is very curvy. “The car went over the side and into a ditch. It wasn’t visible from the roadway,” according to an employee at the Border Area CHP who declined to be named.
Vegetation caught fire and burned about two acres. It took six engines, two hand crews, bulldozers and a water-dropping aircraft to stop the fire’s forward advance in less than an hour, reported Jody Hagemann, spokeswoman for the Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department.
The fire was driven by winds, pushing the flames eastward and was a threat to nearby buildings, according to a tweet from an eyewitness. Fire crews were on the scene in the late afternoon mopping up, Hagemann said.
Several Good Samaritans tried to pull the victim from the burning car but were hampered by thick, black smoke, according to the CHP log.
“There is one confirmed fatality and the CHP is investigation the collision,” Hagemann said.
Traffic on the two-lane Highway 371 was narrowed to one lane, causing a considerable backup, according to the CHP.
