Willows woman dies in I-5 crash; ID pending
A 34-year-old Willows woman was of one two people killed Saturday in a fiery collision on Interstate 5 near Dunnigan.
The California Highway Patrol is withholding her name pending positive identification through dental records.
The crash occurred at 11:10 p.m., at the I-505 off-ramp, shortly after the Woodland CHP received a report of a “hazardous vehicle,” with no lights and facing the wrong direction in the No. 1 lane on northbound I-5, CHP Public Information Officer Bryan Konvalin said.
The woman, who was driving a 1992 Honda Accord, struck a 1998 Oldsmobile Achieva, flipped and rolled on top of the car and both vehicles immediately burst into flames, the CHP said.
The Oldsmobile’s driver has been identified as George Mora Arias, 40, of Woodland, the CHP said.
“Emergency efforts were unable to prevent the loss of both drivers,” Konvalin said.
The woman and Arias were pronounced dead at the scene and the CHP contacted the Yolo County Coroner’s office to investigate their deaths, which will include a toxicology exam.
The CHP closed down I-5 for about three hours at the Zamora exit and diverted traffic to Highway 99W as they cleared the wreckage and investigated the crash.
While the cause of the collision is still under investigation, the CHP believes that alcohol may have been a factor as to why the Oldsmobile was turned the wrong way and had not lights on, Konvalin reported.
