Man Killed, 2 CHP Officers Hurt in Crash

A man burned to death Sunday afternoon after his sports car spun out on a rain-slicked freeway in Pacoima and slammed into a California Highway Patrol sedan, causing both vehicles to burst into flames, authorities said.

Two officers in the CHP car, which had been parked on the left shoulder of the westbound 118 Freeway near the Glenoaks Boulevard onramp, were trapped at first because the vehicle’s doors had jammed. They managed to break out the windows and crawl out of their burning car.

The officers, a man and a woman, were taken to Olive View-UCLA Medical Center with minor injuries, the CHP said.

The driver of the Mazda RX-7 sports car could not be immediately identified.

While the officers were guarding a disabled pickup truck that had crashed into the center divider, the Mazda ran into their car about 3:15 p.m., said Officer Vince Bell, a CHP spokesman.

The patrol car, which was flashing its emergency lights, was parked behind the Ford Ranger awaiting a tow truck. Neither vehicle was blocking any lanes, Bell said.

A witness told the CHP the Mazda was going at least 85 mph in the fast lane.

The Mazda’s driver “hit water and he hydroplaned. He was going too fast and lost control of the car,” CHP Officer Dan Oxley said. The vehicle spun and hit the back of the CHP car.

The two officers broke the door windows with their batons and escaped. “They looked at the other car and it was fully engulfed; there was nothing they could do for [the other] vehicle,” he added.

The female officer is a training officer who has been with the department for 2 1/2 years, Bell said. The male officer, who is a trainee, was in his third day on the job. Both are in their 20s, Bell said.

The driver of the Ford Ranger, who was sitting in his truck, was not injured.

“If you’re on the freeway and your car breaks down, that’s the safest place to be--inside your vehicle,” Bell said.

Because of investigations, authorities sealed off the westbound freeway, between the Foothill Freeway onramp and San Fernando Road for about 4 1/2 hours.