Man Hurt in Camper Fire on Freeway
A 53-year-old San Ysidro man suffered second- and third-degree burns over 15% of body Sunday when a camper he was riding in caught fire, authorities said.
Orange County Fire Capt. Dan Young said Charles Alveres was riding in the back of his brother’s camper headed south on the Santa Ana Freeway when the vehicle ignited near the Culver Drive off-ramp about 8 p.m.
Alveres was transported to UCI Medical Center in Orange, were he was in stable condition Sunday night, fire officials said.
The brother, who was not identified, did not realized the camper was on fire until another motorist drove along side and honked her horn to alert him, Young said.
By that time, the camper was fully engulfed in flames and Alveres was hanging outside the camper’s door, Young said.
“He had nowhere to go,” Young said. “The truck was going 55 miles per hour on the freeway and the flames (were) filling the camper.”
The fire’s cause had not been determined.
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