Driver Killed in Fiery Crash Near Long Beach Airport

A man was killed early Sunday when the car he was driving crashed into a center median and burst into flames on Spring Street near Long Beach Airport, police said.

The name of the driver fatally injured in the 1:25 a.m. collision will not be released until his family has been informed, according to a Long Beach Police Department press statement that reads as follows:

On Sunday, September 16, 2012, at approximately 1:25 a.m., officers from the Long Beach Police Department were called to the area of Spring Street just west of Lakewood Boulevard, in response to a traffic collision that resulted in the death of an adult male.

When officers arrived at the scene, a 2011 Hyundai Sonata, which had collided with a tree on the center median, was fully engulfed in flames. Witnessesat the scene and officers were unable to rescue the driver due to the fire. 

Long Beach Fire Department personnel responded and extinguished the fire, and the driver of the vehicle was determined to be deceased at the scene.

The preliminary investigation revealed that the vehicle was traveling eastbound on Spring Street towards Lakewood Boulevard. The driver lost control of the vehicle when exiting the tunnel,drove up onto the center median and collided with a tree. The vehicle caught fire immediately upon impact.

No passengers were in the vehicle, and no other vehicles were involved in the collision.

At this time, the decedent is only being identified as an adult male, pending notification to his next of kin.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call Long Beach Police Department Accident Investigations Detail Detective Sirilo Garcia at (562) 570-7355.