[Update: Searching for the good Samaritan] Two Injured After Rollover Collision Erupts in Flames Near Myrtletown
A vehicle fire with trapped occupants reportedly injured two people Monday morning just outside the Myrtletown area of Eureka.
The crash was first reported at approximately 9:10 a.m. at Mitchell Road and Kluck Lane before being updated to Mitchell Road and Cummings Road. California Highway Patrol described the incident as a rollover collision with the vehicle fully involved in fire.
The first 911 callers reported a car on fire with occupants trapped inside. Within minutes, callers reported the occupants had gotten out of the vehicle. One caller, described as upset and helping the subjects, told dispatchers a woman had major injuries and was profusely bleeding.
The vehicle, believed to be a Toyota, was fully engulfed in flames and remained on fire as emergency personnel arrived. One Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputy on scene provided traffic control on the south end of the vehicle while fire crews were en route. Eureka Police Department reported a three-minute estimated arrival for fire units and five minutes for additional units.
Reports from the scene indicate both occupants were injured. Their conditions were not immediately available.
CHP is investigating.
Please remember that information gathered from initial reports is subject to revision as more facts become available.
Note: This article has been updated after publication to
Update: A 19-year-old female was transported to an area hospital with a forehead laceration and complaint of back pain.
Update: The CHP Traffic Incident Information page indicates the involved car is a Volkswagen Jetta.
Update:
A source has informed us the vehicle is a Toyota Matrix, not a Volkswagen Jetta as the CHP cad reported earlier. Additionally, we received the following photos of the crash site:
An HCSO deputy at the scene of a fiery crash on Mitchell Road southeast of Myrtletown. [Photo by Austin Seder]
Update: A source reports that both occupants have been treated and released from the hospital.
According to a source, the driver was trapped inside the burning vehicle after the collision, unable to free himself from his seatbelt. A bystander reportedly helped by providing a pocketknife to cut him loose.
If you were that person, or know who was, the occupants of the vehicle would like to connect with you. Please reach out to us at [email protected].
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Humboldt County is a vehicular death trap and local governments are not taking the issue seriously. If our city and county governments keep sitting on their hands regarding this issue, their behavior, or lack thereof, is going to cross the line into gross negligence. The local governments will start absorbing some liability for these accidents. We all know these roads are dangerous, poorly designed, and lack appropriate speed limits. It’s only a matter of time before this liability comes back to hit the public.
It would not be unreasonable to declare a state of emergency regarding traffic safety in Humboldt. We’re dancing on a razor’s edge just waiting for a major tragedy to happen.
You could have the most perfectly engineered and signed roadways, but you still have Humboldt drivers.
Agreed, but I’d like to see a little bit of engineering and signage anyway.
People choose to live on those roads.
Semi-rural homes is what they want… with no traffic.
Ever gone up and down Alderpoint road ?
Old Kneeland Road ?
Maple Creek Road ?
At any rate, the County is grossly in debt anyway.
Translation: No money.
The bike lanes are all paved……………..
I’d settle for adequate repairs. Or even repairs that stop making roads worse.
Signs get ignored here. Same with speed limits or driving conducive to the conditions. It’s like gun laws; 100 more of them isn’t going to do much other than having 100 more of them. We also have a critical shortage of judges ansd such for all the liability cases that will commence.
Exactly! But not just local drivers. I drive to the sf area often, and can say with certainty that there will be at least one driver who thinks they are the best driver in the world, so they can speed and run stop signs.
Often it is the poor driving and speed . Sit and watch at any location , side road anywhere and speeding is easily seen .
LOL. Drivers are disposable for the way they drive. The idiots in government are disposable for using out TAX moneys for fixing the roads. Stop voting for more government, and put the razor away before you cut a toe off.
maybe people need to slow down.
If you can’ drive down to old Arcata Road from your house you shouldn’t be driving. People who drive on curvy roads from their homes every day should know better.
I hope they recover, don’t die just to get to town.
Not Old Arcata Road. Myrtle Ave. But at 19 many of us overestimated our driving skills.
Sorry. Reading back it doesn’t say the 19 year old was the driver.
Myrtle at Mitchell has pretty much dumped into what is commonly referred to as Old Arcata road.
Anything north of Hall is Old Arcata in my mind, though I know it doesn’t technically change until Indianola.
Right? I use the names interchangeably and it depends on which direction I’m driving and how I’m feeling. Locals know which road is being mentioned. I hope for the best recovery for these people…I’m curious as to how the car flipped and how the fire started? I’ve flipped a truck at slow speed on a weird curve with slick then suddenly non-slick surface. And I fill up all the gas cans these days when I hit the cheaper gas stations or when/if the price dips…
One real scary accident. I truly hope the people involved will be OK. A very quick response from the EPD and other first responders. That just might have saved the woman’s life that was bleeding heavily.
Treated and released. Head wounds are prone to bleed a lot without being serious injuries.
I drive that road everyday. There are some people who drive it way too fast. Generally it’s the younger folks. Deer cross at that spot daily. I hope they heal up and take this as a lesson to slow down.
True! I just saw deer (multiple) crossing there yesterday. I guess they follow that Ryan Creek contour to bigger fields…Driving from Eureka it’s a pretty blind corner down over that creek
This is not Myrtletown.
It’s myrtle ave at that point and is “just outside the myrtletown area” by any reasonable metric. Up that hill towards eureka and you’re decidedly in Myrtletown
I’ve lived in eureka for 70 years and you’re giving me a geography lesson. That’s priceless.
I wish high schools still taught Driver’s Education.
I do too. This says “Back in 1990, California pulled funding that paid for high school driving courses in response to a decrease in people getting their licenses. The number of people under 19 with their license has since been on a subtle decline with about 40% who had their license in 2021 compared to 64% in 1996 (The Hill). ”
But I think this is more likely the real reason – “A lack of state funding for the requirement makes it difficult for districts to offer driver’s ed. Many districts opt not to offer it in favor of electives and coursework focusing on college preparation.” The push for college in academia was the reason.
https://blog.csba.org/drivers-education/
https://thecampoclaw.com/opinion/2024/03/01/whatever-happened-to-high-school-drivers-ed/
Come to think of that, C/R could slide that initial driver’s Ed into one of their programs, such as anything that will likely require a DL later (excluding their current trucking course). Heavy equipment, for example or things like fork lift drivers often require a DL to get certified even if the equipment isn’t actually a truck or car, but may be used on public streets. Work it into the curriculums as it likely would also qualify for student funding needs such as Pell Grants.
There is a one time wealth tax on Nov ballet; we need to make it a regular routine tax and be involved in government and how that money is spent. Massachusetts has a wealth tax and no mass exodus of wealthy. Per A More Perfect Union (Youtube channel) interviews and reporting there is a group of billionaires who support their taxes being raised, “Patriotic Billionaires” or similar name. Even Warren Buffet feels his taxes should be higher.
Slick trickster Newsom is supported financially by many tech billionaires and he opposes the tax.
IDK if that is accurate. I searched and this was the first link that came up. https://www.masslive.com/politics/2025/04/so-are-millionaires-really-fleeing-mass-a-new-report-says-theyre-staying-and-paying.html
It literally announced it a success based on revenue raised and the glee of politicians in decided how to spend it until you got to the bottom of the article where this appeared- “More people left Massachusetts than moved into it in 2024, according to an analysis earlier this year by United Van Lines.
Massachusetts ranked No. 5 on its list of the “most moved from states in 2024,” according to the analysis.
“California, Massachusetts, New York, Illinois and New Jersey have been included in the top outbound states over the past five years,” the company said in a statement.” You notice that even without the wealth tax, California is first already. In people leaving.
I think there is a serious difference in citizens respect for law. California is short of the history Massachusetts has. I suspect a lot of residents in California have less deep roots and are more wealth seeking than in Massachusetts. The percentage of native born in both states are close but California has a much larger percentage of immigrants from outside the country. Whether they will stay or not, IDK.
But I know I have a deep distrust for California government which promised schools would get lotto profits. Which they did but then took the corresponding amount away that they had been covering so it ended up just funding more government than education. There is the fact that Massachusetts ranks first in education while California ranks 31. That indicates there is already a lack respect for it and it will surprise me if this proposition changes that.
https://americadashboard.com/rankings/education
I totally agree with your comment.
And showed that movie “Red Asphalt”. Kids need to be scared about real and dangerous things. It’s not a video game…
The older I get, the less I drive… which I’m sure, works out best for everyone.
You are not getting older, you are getting smarter!
Thank you for this post.
What do you do for groceries and appointments?
“A source is a source, of course, of course…”
Yea! To the good by stander who didn’t just stand by but got busy helping. Awesome! Problably the sort of person who feels it wasn’t such a big deal, of course they would do that and more people should be so brave and helpful.
The one time I’ve helped in an injury traffic accident, it scared the crap out of me and I went on autopilot. The second at the site. It was a big deal full of do I do this or will it make it worse fears. Heaven knows though, enough people eventually stopped to help that there was quite a crowd.
What you describe is basically how we have all survived here for a long time. Not much waiting around for the infamous someone else.
You too can be that person, pay it forward in advance, mosy likely someone will be there for you too.
Basic first aid&cpr trainings happen all over the county.
Kym&Lisa do you know if all the VFDs open their first aid/cpr classes to all neighbors to participate? Its a great way to meet your neighborhood vfd crew too!
Empower yourself with useful real world knowledge 💪
He is a danco employee
He is a danco employee driving a van, i wont say his name but hes a solid man