Sacramento, CA : Car crashes, burns next to propane tank near Lakesideon May, Wednesday, 24th 2017

A car skidded off Interstate 8 near Lakeside, landed next to a large propane tank and burst into flames Wednesday night, authorities said.

Fire crews doused the flames before they damaged the tank. The injured driver was taken to a hospital with a collapsed lung and scrapes, the California Highway Patrol said.Other motorists called 911 about 11:10 p.m. saying a car had just spun out on westbound freeway lanes just before the Dunbar Lane exit. The 2002 Nissan Maxima also overturned, CHP Officer Kevin Pearlstein said.

The sedan raced up and over a small slope off the freeway shoulder, plowed through a chain link fence, crossed Chocolate Summit Drive and smashed a wooden fence. It stopped apparently inches from a residential propane tank.

Other people stopped to assist. The driver, a 22-year-old Escondido man, was out of the car before it burned. Pearlstein said the CHP will seek a DUI charge against the driver, but he was not arrested because he went to the hospital.

The car was engulfed in flames when firefighters got there, according to a tweet posted by the Lakeside Fire Protection District. A photo also posted showed crews standing in the middle of Chocolate Summit Drive as they trained a hose on the blaze, keeping a safe distance from the propane tank.

By the time the fire was out, a small patch of black soot or scorching could be seen on one end of the tank.

Source :
Car crashes, burns next to propane tank near Lakeside