Man killed after car flips into Fresno County canal identified. He was stuck inside

The Fresno County Coroner’s Office on Tuesday identified a 19-year old man who was found inside a car submerged in a canal near Sanger on Monday morning.

Joe Vargas was pulled from the car by emergency crews with CalFire and pronounced dead at the scene, according to a report from the California Highway Patrol.

Officers responded to the incident near South Rainbow Route and East California Avenue east of Sanger around 5:45 a.m. Monday and found the car in the canal.

It had flipped and was partially submerged in three feet of water. Emergency crews extricated Vargas and performed life-saving efforts, but “due to the length of time the driver was underwater, he was pronounced deceased at the scene,” the report said.

The CHP believes Vargas was driving south on Rainbow when he veered off the road and into the canal. The reason for the crash and the exact time it occurred have yet to be determined, though a call to the department’s communications center around 5:45 a.m. was reported as a two-vehicle collision. A witness who noticed the car in the canal also called 911, the CHP report said.

Toxicology reports are pending and the investigation is ongoing.