Family Identified in Fiery Freeway Crash

A family of four taking its first trip in a motor home from a rural area of British Columbia to Disneyland was identified Tuesday as the victims of a fiery crash on a Burbank freeway that left the husband, his wife and stepdaughter dead and his stepson badly burned.

Doug Bertsch, a milkman who lived in Killiney Beach, had recently inherited the 35-foot camper after his father’s death, said neighbors in the town of 300 residents about 200 miles northeast of Vancouver.

Bertsch, 45, his wife, Joanne, who was in her late 30s, and her children from an earlier marriage, Gavin Sweezie, 14, and Allison Sweezie, 10, set off Thursday in the motor home for Southern California, said neighbor Kim Redding.

“They were so looking forward to this trip,” Redding said tearfully. “The family had traveled often. But this was the first time in the motor home and the kids were so excited because they were going to Disneyland. They had never been there.”

But the trip ended in catastrophe Monday morning on the southbound Golden State Freeway when the motor home and a semi hauling 50,000 pounds of tomatoes collided and crashed into a concrete abutment at the Burbank Boulevard overpass.

The driver of the truck escaped with minor injuries but the motor home burst into flames. Rescuers were only able to pull Gavin from the fire. He was burned over 80% of his body and remained in serious condition Tuesday at Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles.

Redding said Bertsch and his wife were married last summer. In addition to driving a milk truck on a route through the small towns around Okanagan Lake, Bertsch also was a dog breeder. Redding said the couple had recently bought a large parcel of land near the lake and planned to live on the site in the motor home while a house was being built.

“This was to be their big trip to California before they settled down and started building,” Redding said. “Doug inherited the motor home a couple months ago but didn’t pick it up until last week. He went and got it and they left.”

The accident remained under investigation Tuesday by the California Highway Patrol. Authorities declined to released the names of the three victims who were killed because their identities had not been confirmed through medical records.

But officials confirmed that Bertsch was the registered owner of the motor home and that Gavin Sweezie had lost his mother, sister and stepfather in the accident.

Officer David Padgett said the CHP was still looking for a white pickup truck that might have triggered the accident with a dangerous lane change. A truck driver who witnessed the accident told investigators that the pickup cut in front of the motor home and struck its front side, knocking it into the truck that was hauling tomatoes.

Padgett said a Honda Accord was also involved in the accident. The car’s right side was damaged and a passenger slightly injured at some point when it collided with the motor home, but investigators are still attempting to reconstruct the accident and determine what part the Honda played.

Maria Iacobo, a spokeswoman for Childrens Hospital, said Gavin Sweezie remained in the intensive care unit and would face weeks of care there. She said the boy’s father flew to Los Angeles from Canada Monday night and has been constantly at his side. Hospital officials declined to allow the father to be interviewed.

Iacobo said numerous phone calls were received Tuesday at the hospital from as far as Canada from people who did not know Gavin but were inquiring about his condition.