4 Die in Fiery Pileup as Crashes Snarl Traffic

Devastating crashes choked Southland freeways Wednesday as four people died in a flaming nine-car pileup in Irvine, three more were injured in a gasoline tanker-truck wreck in North Long Beach and a construction crane toppled onto the pavement near John Wayne Airport.

In the most destructive accident, four people were killed when their van exploded into flames after a tractor-trailer truck plowed into traffic that had slowed to a crawl in a construction zone on the Santa Ana Freeway just north of the El Toro Y in Irvine. The crash scattered burning wreckage and shattered debris across the northbound lanes of the freeway.

Police arrested the 34-year-old driver of the truck--identified as Leopoldo Nunez Sanchez of La Paz, Baja California--and booked him on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter. He was being held in the Orange County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail.

The names of the victims were being withheld until the Orange County coroner’s office could confirm their identities by matching dental records supplied by the victims’ families. Investigators said that they believed the victims were two adult couples returning to their homes in Stanton after a trip to Mexico.

Three other people were injured in the Irvine crash, one critically. The accident involved nine vehicles and closed the northbound lanes of the freeway for more than nine hours.

The driver of the truck, which was loaded with tomatoes, was traveling at least 55 mph but should have seen the clogged traffic in time to slow down, said California Highway Patrol Officer Angel Johnson.

“Anyone could have avoided that accident,” she said. “He had indicated that he was cut off by another car, but no witness has corroborated that. . . .

“There was glass on the ground and cars all over the place,” Johnson said. “I got to the scene 30 minutes later and both cars [that had burned] were still smoking.”

The driver of the truck did not have a valid California driver’s license, she said, but he did have a Mexican license.

The accident raised questions whether the driver was violating provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement. Officials said the pact currently limits truck drivers licensed in Mexico to driving within 25 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border.

President Clinton delayed implementing a provision of NAFTA that ultimately would allow Mexican-licensed drivers to operate anywhere in the United States.

Earlier this month, five U.S. senators from the border states asked Clinton to drop his opposition and implement the trucking portions. But on Wednesday, a letter signed by 201 members of Congress was released urging Clinton to continue the ban on Mexican-licensed trucks and drivers. Although the letter was not prompted by the crash, it cited safety concerns as among the reasons for continuing the ban.

“It’s unfortunate that it takes the tragic loss of four lives to serve as a wake-up call . . . that we cannot allow unsafe trucks and drivers from Mexico to have unlimited access to California highways as called for under NAFTA,” said Ron Carey, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. “If NAFTA’s trucking provisions are implemented, thousands of trucks from Mexico will pour into California every day, and these ticking time bombs will claim even more innocent lives.”

The crash occurred about 12:15 a.m., just north of the overpass carrying traffic from the Santa Ana Freeway onto the northbound San Diego Freeway. Traffic on I-5 had slowed to a near standstill for a detour caused by construction of an overpass, said Transportation Corridor Agencies spokeswoman Lisa Telles. The carpool lane was already closed at that point and traffic was being funneled from the left lane into the two remaining lanes, she said.

Johnson said Nunez was traveling in the right northbound lane when his heavily laden truck slammed into the backs of slow-moving merging vehicles, then crossed the median and ended up in the southbound carpool lane. No southbound cars were involved in the accident.

The impact sparked a fire that engulfed a Ford Aerostar van carrying the two men and two women who were killed. The fire also burned the truck Nunez was driving and the small sedan driven by Grant Orthmeyer, 24, of Irvine.

Orthmeyer, who was found outside his car after the crash, later was listed in stable condition at Western Medical Center in Santa Ana. Doctors said he had a skull fracture, a broken nose and facial lacerations.

“He can’t remember what happened,” said his mother, Deanna Orthmeyer. “We did hear that there may have been people who stopped, and may have pulled him out. If so, I sure would like to thank them.”

Johnson said Nunez, the truck driver, also was out of his vehicle when officers arrived. They found him nearby, off the freeway, suffering from an abrasion on his forearm. He was taken to Irvine Medical Center, where he was treated and then arrested, Johnson said.

Later Wednesday morning, the southbound lanes of the San Diego Freeway in Orange County were closed for about three hours after a crane on the center divider tipped over onto the MacArthur Boulevard overpass.

Thousands of morning commuters were caught in a massive traffic jam, which forced air travelers to find alternate ways to get to nearby John Wayne Airport.

The crane was working on the MacArthur overpass at 8:17 a.m. when it toppled. The CHP closed both the north and southbound connectors to the Costa Mesa Freeway, as well as the Baker Street, Paularino Street and MacArthur Boulevard onramps. All traffic was rerouted to the northbound Costa Mesa Freeway.

Another crane brought the fallen crane back to an upright position, and the highway was reopened at 11:26 a.m. There were no injuries reported.

At about the same time the San Diego Freeway was reopening, a double-tanker truck carrying almost 10,000 gallons of gasoline overturned and the trailer tank ruptured. Flaming gasoline from the ruptured tank charred the trailer, two vans and a pickup, injuring three people and blocking the Artesia Freeway for more than 10 hours, the CHP said.

Burning fuel spilled into storm drains, but firefighters were able to douse the blaze and hazardous materials teams eventually cleaned up most of the mess.

Times staff writers Eric Malnic and Lisa Richardson contributed to this story.

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Freeway Tie-Ups

Three separate incidents shut down three major freeways for hours Wednesday.

Tanker fire: 91 closed both directions between Paramount Blvd. and Downey Ave.

Crane collapses: 405 south-bound closed at MacArthur

Truck crash: Four killed, I-5 closed northbound