One dies in crash on South Mission, another crash starts fire

Multiple crashes within minutes of each other the night of Saturday, Jan. 18, in Bonsall required responses from emergency personnel – with one crash starting a fire and another leaving a driver dead.

A report came in of the first crash at 9:01 p.m. along Olive Hill Road east of Via Puerta del Sol, according to information from North County Fire Protection District spokesman John Choi.

Dispatchers were told a car had gone off the roadway and erupted into flames, Choi said.

The driver of that vehicle was uninjured and was able to climb out unassisted. Fire crews were at the scene of the crash working to contain the vehicle fire for little more than half an hour, Choi said.

The fire district also had to work with a county hazmat team to clean up fuel that spilled from the vehicle.

Less than 20 minutes after the first crash, reports came in of two collisions involving a Honda Civic in the area of South Mission Road and State Route 76, less than a mile to the east.

A caller told dispatchers at 9:17 p.m. that she had been involved in a minor sideswipe with a white Civic on South Mission, according to the CHP. The caller reported the Civic had continued south on the road without stopping after the collision.

At 9:18 p.m., dispatchers received a call saying that the same Civic had struck a BMW X3 head-on on South Mission less than a mile south of the previous crash, the CHP said.

The Civic reportedly had drifted into opposing traffic while heading south, causing the northbound BMW driver to slow her vehicle to a stop; the Civic driver continued anyway and hit the BMW.

According to the CHP, the Civic driver – identified as a 20-year-old Fallbrook man – died of his injuries at the scene. He was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash.

The 48-year-old woman driving the BMW and her passenger, a 58-year-old man also from Fallbrook, sustained minor injuries. The male passenger was taken to Palomar Medical Center in Escondido for treatment.

Impairment was believed to be a factor in the crash, the CHP said.

Mission Road was closed for about three hours after the deadly incident.

Will Fritz can be reached by email at [email protected].