Fiery Accident Kills 3 on Simi Valley Freeway : Collision: A westbound car hurtles across a dirt median into oncoming traffic. The five-vehicle crash is on a stretch of road that has concerned officials.

Three people were killed and four injured, two seriously, in a fiery, multiple-vehicle accident Friday morning on the Simi Valley Freeway that snarled rush-hour traffic for miles.

The accident, which included a head-on collision, occurred near the Tampa Avenue exit in Chatsworth on a stretch of road that has concerned local and state officials about errant cars crossing a 45-foot-wide dirt median into oncoming traffic.

The five-vehicle accident occurred about 6:30 a.m. when a big-rig truck collided with a Toyota Celica on the westbound side of the freeway, sparking a chain-reaction pileup when the Celica crossed the median into oncoming traffic, witnesses and investigators said.

Those killed were occupants of the Celica, which burst into flames when it was struck by an eastbound station wagon, said California Highway Patrol spokeswoman Jayne Suits.

A fourth occupant of the Celica was pulled from the wreckage moments before it exploded, said a motorist who helped rescue the woman.

“She was crying. I looked in the back seat and then me and three people stuck in our hands” and pulled her out, said Felipe Rubalcava, 31, of Canoga Park. Rubalcava was on his way to work in Newhall in his flatbed truck when he became involved in the collision.

“The only thing I saw was fire within seconds,” he said.

The Los Angeles County coroner’s office identified the dead as the driver of the Celica--Jose Alvarez, 24, of Pacoima--and two of his passengers, David Vasquez, 26, and Erasmo Calix, 44, both of Lake View Terrace.

A coroner’s spokesman said Vasquez and Calix were burned in the fire and Alvarez died of injuries suffered when he was ejected from the car.

The woman who was pulled from the burning car was identified as Maria Alvarez, the driver’s wife, Suits said.

The four were car-pooling to their jobs in Simi Valley, the CHP said.

CHP Sgt. James Torpey, who headed the investigation at the scene, said it was possible that the driver of the big rig would be cited in the accident. He said investigators would refer their information to the district attorney’s office for review once the investigation is completed.

The uninjured big-rig driver and a man identifying himself as the driver’s manager declined to give their names or comment.

According to Suits, the accident was triggered when the Celica accelerated from the right-hand westbound lane to try to pass in front of the big rig. The big rig, meanwhile, tried to move into the right lane, striking the Celica and forcing it to the shoulder.

The driver of the Celica apparently overcompensated to gain control of the car and veered left across the three lanes of westbound traffic, through the dirt median and into oncoming traffic.

The Celica hit a Toyota 4-Runner in the middle lane on the eastbound side of the freeway. The driver of the 4-Runner lost control and veered right, colliding with Rubalcava’s Ford flatbed truck, which then began to spin out of control. The 4-Runner began to roll, ejecting the lone occupant, Dena Fayne, 26, of Ahwahnee, Calif.

As the Celica continued to spin out of control, it was hit from behind by an eastbound Chevrolet station wagon, an impact that ignited the Celica’s gas tank.

The driver of the station wagon, John Trujillo, 32, of Granada Hills was treated at the scene, according to the CHP. In the flatbed, Rubalcava’s 30-year-old brother, Luciano, struck the windshield, suffering cuts to his right eye and face.

Fayne, driver of the Toyota 4 Runner, was taken to Granada Hills Community Hospital in serious condition with head lacerations, back abrasions and a concussion. Maria Alvarez, rescued from the Toyota sedan, was taken to Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills in critical condition with second- and third-degree burns on 60% of her body, Suits said.

Questions about whether a barrier should be installed on the median on that stretch of freeway have been raised by state Sen. Ed Davis (R-Santa Clarita) and local officials in Ventura County.

In a Dec. 15, 1989, letter to Caltrans, Davis said he was concerned about “a series of serious, and fatal, traffic accidents on the 118 Freeway from Simi Valley to Interstate 405,” the San Diego Freeway.

“Many of these accidents have been the result of traffic crossing over the center of the freeway, which is not protected by a median barrier,” he said.

Caltrans District Director Jerry Baxter responded with a Jan. 8, 1990, letter, saying that a barrier was among the projects to be funded by the 1989 Proposed State Transportation Improvement Program.

Pat Reid, a Caltrans spokeswoman, said Friday that the 1989 improvement program had been rejected for lack of state funds. The barrier project was included in funding for the following year, but will not be installed until the 1993-94 fiscal year, she said.

“We are not saying that it’s dangerous or it’s not dangerous,” she said. “We are saying a barrier is scheduled to be built.”

William Rehwald, a Woodland Hills attorney, said he filed a lawsuit in 1988 on behalf of a motorist who was involved in a “cross-median” accident. He said city and county officials in Simi Valley have for years been asking the state to install a barrier on the freeway between Simi Valley and the intersection of the 405.

“That whole area of the 118 freeway has been one of great concern,” he said.

Fatal Crash A 5-car accident, which occurred about 6:30 a.m. Friday on the Simi Valley Freeway in Chatsworth, left three people dead and five others injured. The freeway, which is separated by a dirt median, has been the site of other serious accidents, prompting some officials to call for a divder. Here is a look at what happened, according to early reports from police and witnesses. 1. A big-rig truck, traveling in the center westbound lane, and a Toyota Celica in the right-hand lane, collide. 2. The Toyota Celica-carrying four people-veers out of control, first toward the shoulder and then across three lanes of westbound traffic and through the median. 3. The Celica enters the eastbound lanes of traffic, and hits a Toyota 4-Runner-with a solo driver-in the left rear. 4. The Toyota 4-Runner goes out of control, and hits a flatbed truck traveling to its right. The flatbed, carrying two people, spins out of control, and the 4-Runner begins to roll. 5. At almost the same time, the Celica, which is still spinning, is rear-ended by an eastbound station wagon with a solo driver. The Celica’s gas tank ignites; 3 of its occupants die while the fourth is hospitalized.