After colliding with both Cal Fire and CalTrans vehicles, a big rig flew off Interstate 15 into the Ashley Furniture store on Amargosa Road early Monday afternoon, according to California Highway Patrol officials.
Inmate Cal Fire and CalTrans crews had been working on the right shoulder of southbound I-15 clearing shrubs, said CHP Cpt. Todd Sturgess. At about 1 p.m., the big rig veered to the right for unknown reasons and clipped the occupied Cal Fire inmate handcrew vehicle, then struck the CalTrans truck and pushed it off the freeway before slamming into the front entrance of Ashley Furniture.
Crews worked for more than three hours investigating and cleaning up the scene.
There were conflicting reports as to who was at fault for the incident. Some witnesses said the CalTrans pickup pulled out in front of the tractor-trailer, while others said the tractor-trailer sideswiped the pickup truck. CHP officials were still collecting evidence at the scene into the afternoon.
At least three inmates who were in the work truck when it was struck suffered minor injuries and were transported to an area hospital. Four others also had minor injuries, according to San Bernardino County Fire officials, but it was unclear which vehicles the additional victims came from. It did not appear anyone on Amargosa Road or in the furniture store was injured.
The demolished CalTrans truck sat on Amargosa Road wrapped in the chainlink fence that used to separate the surface road from the freeway.
One woman who was just leaving Chase Bank on Amargosa Road said she heard a loud noise and looked up to see a cloud of smoke and the big rig sitting inside the furniture store.
Officials shut down Amargosa Road between La Mesa and Bear Valley Roads for an undetermined amount of time. Southbound traffic on I-15 was at a crawl and had backed up nearly to Palmdale Road.
Hazardous Materials crews were called out to help clean up the fuel spill caused by the crash.
