Tire may be at fault in crash fatal to 5

Investigators are trying to determine if a separated tire tread may have caused a pickup truck to veer out of control and slam into a tree Thursday morning on the shoulder of the 10 Freeway in Ontario, killing five family members, including two children.

The accident on the eastbound side of the freeway near Vineyard Avenue -- along with an early-morning big-rig accident and fire on the 10 Freeway in West Covina -- snarled traffic for hours during the beginning of the morning commute.

Late Thursday, the coroner identified those killed in the crash as Rene Camacho Pena, 42; Prisca Malagon Camacho, 40; driver Mercedes Malagon Ortiz, 31; Raquel Malagon Camacho, 9; and Jordy Camacho Malagon, 4, all of Ontario. Three had just moved to the area from Madera, Calif.

California Highway Patrol officials said it would be at least several days before they had an indication of what caused the single-vehicle accident involving the 2000 Ford F-150.

Seven people were in the crew-cab pickup. Two Ontario boys, ages 3 and 10, survived the high-speed accident and were hospitalized in serious condition.

CHP investigators removed the truck’s left-rear tire, where the tread appeared to have been sheared off. Officials took away the tire along with a long strip of tread.

The tire model, a Continental Contitrac AW P275/60R17, was recalled for safety reasons in 2002, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration records show.

The agency warned that a deficiency in the tire could cause the tread to detach and that the driver “could lose control of the vehicle, possibly resulting in a vehicle crash, personal injury or death.”

CHP Officer Sean Cooper said the missing tire tread was a factor as investigators tried to determine the cause of the accident, which occurred just before 6 a.m.

“When you combine a tread separation with a high rate of speed and drastic, panicked turning -- absolutely you can lose control like that,” he said, stressing, however, that he could not speak to what had happened since it could take days for investigators to determine the preliminary cause of the crash.

Officials with Continental Tire could not be reached for comment Thursday.

The dangers of separated tire treads caught the attention of the country in 2000 after hundreds of deaths and injuries in rollover accidents involving Ford Explorers were linked to some models of Firestone tires.

Federal investigators found that many accidents were caused, in part, by tread separating from under-inflated tires.

In August 2000, Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. announced a voluntary recall of about 6.5 million tires that were supplied as original equipment on Ford Explorers and other SUVs and trucks.

In 2002, Continental Tire announced the recall of more than half a million tires installed on Ford Motor Co. sport utility vehicles after some of the tires lost their tread.

In 2003, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration adopted tighter regulations for tire testing and performance.

Apparently, the victims had just left the driver’s home in Ontario and were headed to the driver’s workplace, CHP officials said.

The two survivors -- the 3-year-old was in a child’s car seat -- were identified as the driver’s children and were taken by ambulance to Loma Linda University Medical Center.

The registered owner of the truck is Fresno County resident Adela Adame, 59, according to the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Interviewed by telephone Thursday, Adame said she had co-signed for the truck four years ago for a friend. Both were farmworkers at the time. Adame said she was surprised to hear her name was still attached to the truck. She last saw her friend a year ago.

“I’m real sad because of what happened,” Adame said.

“I met these people in the fields a long time ago, but I don’t have any papers for that truck. The bills and everything went to her house.”

Adame said she called the driver’s house Thursday and was told that she had left to visit her sister in Southern California two weeks ago.

Earlier in the day, Interstate 10 also was partially closed in West Covina after a tractor-trailer crashed through the center divider near Holt Avenue, spilling diesel fuel and office supplies on the roadway.

CHP officials said the truck struck the median and overturned shortly after 3:30 a.m., spilling 100 gallons of fuel and about 50,000 pounds of office supplies, which caught fire.

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maeve.reston@latimes.com

sara.lin@latimes.com

Times staff writer Garrett Therolf contributed to this report.