PIRU : Tractor-Trailer Hits Firetruck, Killing 1

The driver of a tractor-trailer was killed when his vehicle crossed into opposite lanes and hit a county firetruck head-on on California 126 about two miles east of Piru about noon Wednesday.

The rig swerved to avoid hitting a dump truck that had slowed to make a turn, the California Highway Patrol said.

The driver of the tractor-trailer, 60-year-old Erwin Singleton Jr. of Los Angeles, was taken to Simi Valley Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 12:40 p.m. from internal injuries, said Zelmira Isaac of the county coroner’s office.

County firefighter Craig LaChance received minor injuries and was treated and released from Santa Paula Memorial Hospital. Two people traveling in a pickup truck that slammed into the tractor-trailer after it crashed into the firetruck also were treated for minor injuries at the Santa Paula hospital and released. Authorities would not release their names.

Traffic was backed up for three to four miles after California 126 was closed in both directions for about nine hours as rescue personnel cleaned up the accident and contained about 150 gallons that had spilled from the tractor-trailer’s gas tank.