Despite Rescue Efforts, Van Driver Dies in Fire

A man, possibly from Orange County, burned to death in his overturned van despite his desperate attempts to kick out the windshield and the rescue efforts of two passing truckers, police said.

“All we could see is his shoes kicking at the windshield, then a minute later the whole thing blew up,” one of the truck drivers, Joe Marino, told the Associated Press. “He was just screaming and screaming. We couldn’t do anything.”

The driver, who has not been identified, lost control of his van and struck the center divider of the Santa Ana Freeway at about 2:30 a.m., according to California Highway Patrol spokesman Lyle Whitten. Marino, 43, and his assistant, Scott Berry, 28, both of Whittier, saw smoke coming from the truck and tried unsuccessfully to douse the flames with a fire extinguisher, Whitten said.

“They saw the driver trying to kick out the windshield of the van, which had come to rest on the driver’s door,” Whitten said. “They tried to help him, but the flames engulfed the van and they could not get him out.”

Firefighters arrived and extinguished the blaze, but the driver was dead. Investigators traced the license plate number of the 1986 Dodge van to a Santa Ana address, but no one there knew the victim, Whitten said.

The truck drivers who attempted to free the trapped man apparently never saw his face. They estimated the fiery episode lasted about two minutes.

“We saw a dust cloud, then a small fire,” Marino told the Associated Press. “We ran across the freeway with the fire extinguisher and tried to put out the fire, but the flame wouldn’t go out. We saw him kicking, so we tried to kick it out with our boots.

“I started hitting the windshield with the fire extinguisher, but the vehicle just erupted in flames. We kind of got blown back. We heard screaming, but the whole thing was on fire.”

The victim was burned beyond recognition, according to Pat Smith, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Coroner’s office. Dental records may have to be used for identification, she said.

Whitten said the victim appeared to be an Asian and, on the basis of the license plate, was possibly an Orange County resident. The accident occurred as the van was traveling south on the freeway near Rosecrans Avenue in Los Angeles County.