8 Injured in Chain-Reaction Crash on San Diego Freeway Involving 10 Cars

A car fire on the San Diego Freeway sent up a black plume of smoke that caused a chain-reaction collision involving 10 cars Monday night, the California Highway Patrol said.

Eight people were taken to hospitals for minor injuries, and the freeway was tied up for more than an hour.

The 8:10 p.m. collision began after a Honda Civic in the northbound fast lane caught fire just past the Garden Grove Freeway interchange, Orange County Fire Battalion Chief Greg Petersen said.

The car was then struck from behind by a van and pushed about 100 feet forward, he said, beginning a chain reaction that caused major damage to some cars.

The smoke from the burning car drifted south toward oncoming traffic, Petersen said, and blinded some drivers.

“The whole place was smoke,” said driver Jeff Stoner, whose left wrist was slightly injured in the collision. He said his car was hit twice while he tried to stop.

Adding to the confusion, Stoner said, was the sight of fire engines traveling south on the freeway toward the burning car, causing some drivers to believe that the fire was on the other side of the freeway.

Traffic was backed up about a mile immediately following the accident, and county firefighters worked late into Monday night trying to sweep up the shattered glass and metal fragments that littered three lanes.

“It’s one of those things where a car gets stalled in traffic and you don’t see it in time,” said a Torrance resident who was involved in the collision but declined to give his name.