Vehicle vs. truck head-on crashes west of Fresno leave 2 men dead, woman injured
A man is dead and a woman suffered major injuries Wednesday afternoon in a head-on crash west of Fresno, according to the California Highway Patrol.
It was the second fatal head-on crash in the area in a half-day span.
CHP spokesman Mike Salas said the Wednesday afternoon crash involving a small Chevrolet SUV and a tractor-trailer rig happened around 1:40 p.m. on Highway 180 at Chateau Fresno Avenue.
Salas said the truck came up on a vehicle that was stopped on westbound Highway 180 waiting to make a left turn onto Chateau Fresno. Unable to bring his big rig to a stop in time, the driver swerved into the eastbound lane and hit the SUV head-on.
The male passenger in the SUV was pronounced dead at the scene. Fresno County Fire used the Jaws of Life to free the woman driver in the big rig. She was taken to Community Regional Medical Center.
The victim who died was identified Thursday by the Fresno County Coroner’s Office as Joe Faz, 68, of Sanger.
Salas said investigators do not suspect alcohol or drugs.
The area was expected to be shut down until 6 p.m.
The investigation is ongoing.
Earlier head-on fatal in same area
It was the second head-on fatal Wednesday in the area. A 47-year-old Fresno man died after colliding at 2 a.m. with a semi-truck on Jensen Avenue near Blythe Avenue.
Salas said the man was driving his Nissan Altima eastbound on Jensen when for unknown reasons he went into the path of the westbound semi-truck.
The Nissan driver was pronounced dead at the scene.
Salas said the man wasn’t wearing a seat belt and may have been impaired. The other driver wasn’t injured.
The investigation is ongoing.
This story was originally published August 19, 2020 at 5:55 PM.
