A loud crash awakened residents in the 200 block of N. Main Street around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday morning. One resident ran outside to find his parked pick up truck on fire and on top of a car that had plowed into and under the truck.
The car was also on fire with the driver and 2 passengers still inside. The resident attempted to help the 2 men and 1 woman out of the wreckage as Orange Police Officers arrived and deployed fire extinguishers and pulled the occupants out of the car.
The crash occurred about 100 feet from Orange Fire Department Station 5. Remarkably, the Firefighters were not awakened by the loud crash but by residents banging on the fire station door. They quickly drove the fire engine and ambulance to the crash scene and began assessing the victims and knocking down the fire.
One male was transported by ambulance to UCI Medical Center with serious injures as was one female with less serious injuries. A male with minor injuries was evaluated at the scene and given a field sobriety test by Orange PD officers.
A canister that appeared to contain nitrous oxide was removed from the passenger area of the car by an Officer. The incident is being investigated for the possibility that the driver was driving under the influence of an intoxicating substance.
Northbound Main Street was closed at Palm Street to traffic for several hours as police investigated the crash and crews cleaned up the wreckage.
