One Dead After Truck Crashes By Railroad Tracks In South San Francisco
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- A speeding pickup truck burst into flames after a crash near Union Pacific tracks in South San Francisco Friday afternoon, killing the driver, according to police and railroad officials.
The crash occurred shortly at 3:38 p.m. when a Dodge pickup truck exited northbound U.S. Highway 101 to East Grand Avenue and went off the roadway at the bottom of the off-ramp, according to police.
The truck was traveling at speeds of up to 100 miles per hour, according to Union Pacific spokesman Francisco Castillo Jr.
It struck a eucalyptus tree and crashed through a cyclone fence before it overturned and came to rest on Union Pacific tracks that run parallel to the roadway, police said.
The car burst into flame, and the driver was pronounced dead by emergency personnel after the fire was extinguished.
Castillo said the railroad tracks involved are a spur line, and were being used to store empty cars.
The pickup truck did not actually hit the railroad cars, Castillo said.
However the fire did damage one car, police said.
The incident did not directly block the tracks or affect traffic on nearby roads, Castillo said.
Officials with Caltrain, which shares the tracks with Union Pacific, said trains were traveling at reduced speeds through the area and reported delays of around 20 minutes.
Trains were cleared to return to travel at maximum speed again just before 6 p.m., Caltrain officials said.
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