Hit and Run Vehicle May Have Caused Fiery I-15 Rollover

Three people were injured in a fiery rollover on Interstate 15 Saturday morning, and officials believe the crash may have been caused by a hit and run driver.

Emergency crews, including California Highway Patrol and Cal Fire, were called to the scene of the crash around 10:30 a.m. at I-15 and Old Highway 395. There, they discovered the wreckage of an SUV.

CHP Officer Scott Miller said the SUV over-corrected to avoid a couple of vehicles making lane changes. When doing so, the driver lost control of the car and drifted off the shoulder, plowing into a rock. The rock caused the car to roll over. It then caught on fire.

Miller said there were three people inside the car. One person was ejected from the vehicle.

All three occupants were transported to a local hospital with unspecified injuries.

Miller said investigators believe a hit and run vehicle "started the chain of events" that led to the crash. That suspect vehicle may have possibly been some type of black truck.

CHP officials issued a SigAlert immediately following the accident, shutting down two lanes along the freeway. Those lanes re-opened at around 11:45 a.m., once the scene was clear.

Miller said the car fire did spread a bit to some nearby brush, but firefighters quickly contained the blaze.

β€œThe brush initially caught fire, but the fire trucks got here soon enough and got the water on the brush before we had any issues with that," said Miller.

The CHP officer said traffic accidents happen frequently in that area, as people tend to drive fast along that stretch.

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