Three people hurt after fiery big rig crash on 405 Freeway in Sepulveda Pass

LOS ANGELES, CA (CNS) - Three people were hurt, two critically, in a fiery crash involving a big rig and a car on the northbound San Diego (405) Freeway Monday afternoon, stranding scores of motorists in the heavily traveled
Sepulveda Pass as crews worked to clear the scene.

The crash near Mulholland Drive was reported about 2:50 p.m., snarling traffic in both directions for miles.

The big rig, which was loaded with concrete and gravel, collided with a car and overturned on top of the vehicle, according to the California Highway Patrol. The collision sparked a fire that burned both vehicles.
 

A Good Samaritan stopped and managed to pull three people to safety, according to Los Angeles Fire Department spokeswoman Amy Bastman and reports from the scene.

Two patients in critical condition were transported for hospital treatment, as was a third person with moderate injuries, Bastman said.

The crash shut down the carpool, number 1 and two lanes on the northbound 405, and the carpool and number 1, 2 and 3 lanes on the southbound side, prompting the CHP to issue a SigAlert at 3:08 p.m., Officer Stephan Brandt said.

Canyon roads across the Hollywood Hills quickly jammed, as did Pacific Coast Highway. Freeways that cross the 405 -- the Ventura (101) Freeway in the Valley and the Santa Monica (10) Freeway on the Westside -- also were backed up.

CHP officers report all but the carpool lane and left-most through lane on the northbound San Diego (405) Freeway have been reopened to traffic in the Sepulveda Pass. That leaves five northbound and all seven southbound lanes open.

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