Blazing Hay Closes Freeway for 3 Hours
Blazing clumps of hay spewed from a truck in the City of Industry after baling wires broke in a fiery freeway crash that left five people with minor injuries, authorities said.
It took firefighters more three hours to put out the fires and reopen the Pomona Freeway near Fullerton Road, said California Highway Patrol spokesman Lyle Whitten.
The crash occurred in stop-and-go traffic at 8:50 a.m. when a truck hauling five tons of hay and driven by Rudolfo Ruiz Jr., 51, of Kerman rear-ended a car carrying two men, a woman and a 4-year-old child, he said.
“Both the auto and the big rig were consumed by flames ignited by sparks in the crash,” Whitten said.
Ruiz and another trucker tried to put the fire out with extinguishers but could not, Whitten said.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
