Carmichael woman killed in fiery U-Haul crash on Highway 99 south of Fresno

A Carmichael woman has been identified as the person killed after the U-Haul truck she was riding in burst into flames when it swerved off Highway 99 near Fresno on Sunday morning into a eucalyptus tree.

A California Highway Patrol and a citizen saved the driver, identified only as a man, but the woman died in the wreckage.

She was identified Monday by the Fresno County Coroner’s Office as Summer Eitel, 39, of Carmichael. The driver of the U-Haul was transported to Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno with major injuries.

The crash happened around 8 a.m. on northbound Highway 99 in Fowler, Fresno County, the CHP said.

CHP investigators were seeking to determine what caused the driver to lose control of the U-Haul. It swerved off the shoulder of the road, went down an embankment into an unimproved area of dirt and grass near the Manning exit and hit the tree head on, smashing the engine compartment into the cab of the truck.

A Fresno-area CHP officer was the first to arrive at the scene as the U-Haul caught fire. The officer and a citizen were able to remove the driver from the U-Haul and pull him to safety, but were unable to save a passenger before the truck was fully engulfed.