Head-On Crash Kills Pacoima Man, 19
A 19-year-old Pacoima man died late Sunday after he lost control of his vehicle and it crashed head-on into a tractor-trailer, officials said.
The coroner’s office identified the victim as Timoteo Fernandez. He was driving a 1996 Ford Contour eastbound on Highway 138 at about 11:15 p.m. when he swerved into the westbound lane and struck the tractor-trailer near downtown Littlerock, said California Highway Patrolman Scott Weldy.
Paramedics pronounced Fernandez dead at the scene. The tractor driver, Rene Banuelos, 55, of Colton, was not injured, Weldy said.
The trailer was carrying a load of shampoo, which ignited when the vehicles collided, setting off a brush fire that burned about an acre before it was extinguished, he said.
“We are just glad the tractor was not carrying gas,” Weldy said. “It could have exploded.”
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