Minor injuries in two crashes south of Merced

Two collisions minutes apart Thursday morning south of Merced sent one man to the hospital with minor injuries and caused a commercial truck to burst into flames on Gurr Road.

The injury collision was reported just before 10 a.m. on Highway 59, just north of Sandy Mush Road, the California Highway Patrol reported.

Three vehicles were involved. Details of how the crash occurred were not available. One vehicle, a gray Infinity coupe, left the southbound traffic lane of traffic and traveled off the roadway, through a metal fence. It appeared to have sustained front-end damage.

Two other vehicles collided, the CHP said, and one of the people involved in the crash was taken to an area hospital by Riggs Ambulance Service for treatment of unspecified minor injuries.

“It appears to have been just a complaint of pain,” Officer Moises Onsurez said.

Just four minutes earlier, emergency responders were called to a crash on Gurr Road, also near Sandy Mush Road, when a commercial truck caught fire. No one was injured, Battalion Chief Glenda Leonard of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said.

Onsurez said it appeared the commercial truck, which was hauling a tractor, blew a tire. The tire caught fire, which quickly spread to the rest of the vehicle.

The truck pulled to the side of the road and the driver escaped.

Several power lines were downed during the incident, but details were not available.

Firefighters let the truck fire burn out to avoid creating any environmental hazards. “It’s better to let the diesel fuel burn off before putting water on it,” Leonard said.

This story was originally published March 19, 2015 at 11:57 AM with the headline "Minor injuries in two crashes south of Merced."