1 Dead, 9 Injured In 13-Vehicle Crash On Highway 12 In Santa Rosa

SONOMA COUNTY, CA— One person died, and nine others were injured in a collision involving more than a dozen cars Thursday on state Highway 12 in Santa Rosa.

The crash was reported at 11:52 a.m. on westbound SR-12 at Fulton Road. As the Santa Rosa Fire Department was en route, its response units were advised that 12 vehicles were involved with at least one car on fire, Santa Rosa Fire Department Battalion Chief Jason Jenkins said.

Smoke from the fire was visible from Rohnert Park.

"Upon arrival fire units found a pickup truck fully involved in fire with a dozen additional vehicles with significant damage," Jenkins said.

The fire department established an MCI — mass casualty incident — and requested four additional ambulances.

The first arriving fire engine worked to extinguish the truck fire while additional firefighters worked to determine how many patients there were and the severity of their injuries.

"It was quickly determined that there was a total of nine patients, three with major injuries, three moderate injuries, and three minor injuries," Jenkins said. "All patients were evaluated by paramedics at the scene and transported based on severity of injuries to local hospitals."

The driver of the pickup truck on fire died before the fire department arrived at the scene, Jenkins said.

The fire was controlled within 20 minutes; however, westbound Highway 12 was closed at Stony Point Road. A sig-alert remained in effect for several hours. Initially, no estimate was made of when the highway would reopen.

The California Highway Patrol and the Santa Rosa Police Department helped remove and redirect cars stopped in traffic. Vehicles stopped between the crash —just east of Fulton Road—and Stony Point Road were turned around or moved off the freeway through a break in the fence created by the fire department.

Firefighters remained on the scene for several hours to help the CHP with debris cleanup and scene documentation.

All lanes were reported open at 4 p.m. Thursday.

The CHP's preliminary investigation of the crash revealed a dump truck was traveling on westbound Highway 12 and crashed into traffic stopped at the Fulton Road intersection, CHP Officer David deRutte said.

The first car hit was a Toyota pickup truck with a male driver pronounced dead at the scene, deRutte confirmed.

"The Toyota became engulfed in flames after the crash," deRutte said. "The dump truck pushed the Toyota into multiple vehicles causing major damage to most of the vehicles. Eight people from all the vehicles were transported to local hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries."

What caused the dump truck to drive into the stopped traffic was still being investigated, the CHP said.