No injuries in fiery crash on Highway 99 in Merced

Two people escaped a fiery truck crash Thursday morning without injuries, the California Highway Patrol reported.

The CHP said the driver, Tramekius Monte James, 26, and an unidentified passenger were heading north on Highway 99 about 12:16 a.m. in a commercial truck. The truck was approaching V Street when, for unknown reasons, the driver “made an unsafe turning movement,” Officer Moises Onsurez said.

The vehicle went off the roadway, overturned on the shoulder and caught fire, the CHP said. Merced firefighters extinguished the blaze.

The crash did not affect northbound traffic, the CHP said.

Onsurez said the cause of the crash remains under investigation, but said neither drugs nor alcohol appeared to have been factors.

This story was originally published February 5, 2015 at 8:53 AM with the headline "No injuries in fiery crash on Highway 99 in Merced."