Update: Victim who died in fiery U-Haul crash on Highway 99 south of Fresno identified
A U-Haul truck swerved off Highway 99 south of Fowler on Sunday morning in a fiery crash with a eucalyptus tree.
A California Highway Patrol and a citizen saved one person but one died in the wreckage.
The crash happened around 8 a.m. on northbound 99 just south of Manning Avenue in Fresno County, the CHP said.
CHP investigators were seeking to determine what caused the driver to lose control of the U-Haul. It swerved off the shoulder of the road, went down an embankment into an unimproved area of dirt and grass near the Manning exit and hit the tree head on, smashing the engine compartment into the cab of the truck.
A Fresno-area CHP officer was the first to arrive at the scene as the U-Haul caught fire. The officer and a citizen were able to remove the driver from the U-Haul and pull him to safety, but were unable to save a passenger before the truck was fully engulfed.
The victim who died was identified Monday by the Fresno County Coroner’s Office as Summer Eitel, 39, of Carmichael.
The driver of the U-Haul was transported to Community Regional Medical Center with major injuries.
This story was originally published April 25, 2021 at 2:07 PM.