Man dies after motorcycle crashes on I-5 in Merced County

A motorcyclist was found dead early Wednesday west of Los Banos as emergency personnel responded to a grass fire, according to California Highway Patrol.

Fire personnel responded to reports of a grass fire at about 4:40 a.m. on the east shoulder of northbound Interstate 5, north of Highway 152, CHP Los Banos Officer Shannon Stiers said.

Officials found a man and a motorcycle in the grass fire, Stiers said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The man, who authorities couldn’t identify at the scene, was believed to be driving a Kawasaki motorcycle north on Interstate 5 at an unknown speed when the motorcycle ran off the roadway onto the right shoulder into a dirt embankment, according to a news release.

The man was ejected from the vehicle and sustained fatal injuries, according to the release.

The collision remained under investigation Wednesday.

This story was originally published August 1, 2018 at 9:34 AM.