Three Vehicles Involved in Collision Resulting in Fire

A traffic collision on State Route 74, involving multiple vehicles sent six people to the hospital.

Temecula Area CHP units were dispatched to the scene of the accident that took place on Jan. 7, at approximately 6 p.m. At the time of their arrival, three vehicles involved in the collision were on fire and blocking the entire roadway, according to the CHP report.

The collision took place at 31880 State Route 74, near the cross street of Olson Ave.

Fire and medical personnel conducted the triage on multiple patients involved in the collision. The most critical patient, suffered burn injuries to her lower extremities and was flown by Mercy Air to a local burn center for treatment. The remaining occupants from to of the involved vehicles sustained various injuries and were transported to different hospitals in the local area.

One driver from a tow truck that was involved in the collision was uninjured.

All lanes of State Route 74 between Olson Ave. and Melba Ave. were closed for approximately three hours and forty-five minutes for rescue operations, scene investigation, vehicle recovery, and clean-up. During this time, traffic was diverted to nearby side streets. Fortunately due to the time and availability of alternate routes, there was little impact on traffic during the incident.

All lanes eventually opened back up at 9:45 p.m.