Woman dead after fiery crash north of Winchester on Highway 74

Last Updated on June 11, 2019 by CCAR Staff

WINCHESTER — A motorist was killed in a fiery crash just north of Winchester when her car careened off of a four-lane road, slammed into a tree and overturned, authorities said Monday.

The fatality happened shortly after 11 p.m. Sunday on Highway 74, just west of Four Seasons Boulevard, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Officer Darren Meyer said the victim, whose name was not immediately released, was headed east in her 1995 Toyota Camry when she failed to negotiate a bend in the road.

“The Camry traveled across the center median, into the westbound lanes and struck the concrete curb on the north side of the roadway,” he said. “The vehicle continued in a northeast direction, colliding with a tree … then overturned and became engulfed in flames.”

Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department paramedics reached the location within a few minutes, doused the flames and pronounced the driver dead at the scene.

No other vehicles were involved, and the highway was not closed.

Meyer said the crash remains under investigation.