2 Men Injured in Collision on California 118
A two-vehicle collision on California 118 east of Simi Valley at the beginning of Monday evening rush hour left two men injured, one critically, caused a small brush fire and tied up freeway traffic for miles, authorities said.
The wreck occurred in the eastbound lanes when a sports utility vehicle and a car collided west of Rocky Peak Fire Road just over the Ventura County line.
The SUV crashed into the center divider, and the car carrying the two men plummeted more than 30 feet down a steep embankment, ejecting the occupants and touching off the brush fire, said Capt. Ed Ho of the Ventura County Fire Department.
Winds gusting up to 30 mph sent flames down the hill out of control for about an hour.
The fire consumed more than 5 acres of brush in rocky terrain before more than 100 firefighters from Ventura and Los Angeles counties--using about a dozen engines and five helicopters--could control the blaze, said Marnie Swindle, a spokeswoman with the Ventura County Fire Department.
The freeway’s eastbound lanes were shut briefly after the 4:20 p.m. crash as a Ventura County Sheriff’s Department helicopter airlifted the man who sustained life-threatening head injuries to Simi Valley Hospital. The unidentified man was later transferred to Northridge Hospital Medical Center.
The other man, also unidentified by authorities, was treated for minor injuries at Simi Valley Hospital.
The crash caused eastbound traffic to back up at least four miles on the freeway. No information on the driver of the SUV was available.
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