Truck Plows Into Spring Valley Home, Sparks Natural Gas Fire

SPRING VALLEY, CA — A pickup truck veered off a street in Spring Valley Friday afternoon and plowed into a home, severing a utility line and sparking a stubborn natural gas-fueled fire.

The fiery accident in the 9700 block of Huron Street occurred shortly after 5 p.m., according to San Miguel Fire & Rescue.

A bystander found the driver of the damaged truck unconscious inside it, with the front end of the vehicle in flames, said Andy Lawler, a battalion chief with the East County emergency services agency.

The witness used a fire extinguisher to break out the windshield of the pickup truck, then pulled out the man behind the wheel, Lawler said.

Two people inside the home were able to escape safely along with their three dogs.

Medics took the driver, who was combative and possibly intoxicated, to Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego for treatment of serious injuries, Lawler said.

Firefighters dousing the flames with several hoses were able to keep the blaze from spreading into the main body of the house as San Diego Gas & Electric crews worked to shut off the supply of gas to the broken line.

As of 6:30 p.m., the utility personnel were still trying to deactivate the ruptured pipe, and the fire, though essentially contained, was still burning, Lawler said.

– City News Service