1991 — Nov 29, Dust Storm, Massive I-5 Pileup, near Coalinga, CA — 17

–17  Hellman, Paul T. Historical Gazetteer of the United States. NY: Routledge, 2005, p. 82.

–17  History.com. This Day in History, Disaster, November 29, 1991.

–17  Mountain Democrat, Placerville, CA. “Shingle Springs woman dies…pileup.” 12-2-1991, 3

–17  Syracuse Herald Journal, NY. “Crews struggle to identify pileup victims.” 12-1-1991, 39.

–14  NWS, San Joaquin Valley. The Top 15 Weather Events in the Central California Interior.

–10  National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. FARS 1975-2010 Fatality Analysis.

 

Narrative Information

 

History.com: “A massive car and truck collision in Coalinga, California, kills 17 people on this day in 1991. More than 100 vehicles were involved in the accident on Interstate 5, which was caused by a dust storm.

 

“Interstate 5 runs north and south between Southern California and Northern California. On Saturday, November 29, there was considerable traffic on the highway as people were returning home after Thanksgiving. The area of the highway near Coalinga in the San Joaquin Valley is usually prime farmland. However, in 1991 many farmers had decided not to plant their fields because of severe drought conditions, leaving long stretches of dusty soil near the highway.

 

“As the winds strengthened to nearly 40 miles per hour on November 29, dust swept over the highway, severely hampering visibility. Suddenly, a chain reaction of collisions developed over a mile-long stretch of the highway. One hundred and four vehicles, including 11 large trucks, were involved in the massive collision. It took hours for the rescuers to find all the victims in the continuing dust storm. Seventeen people lost their lives and 150 more suffered serious injuries. Meanwhile, thousands of people were trapped in their cars for the nearly an entire day until the highway could be cleared enough for traffic to pass.

 

“The same stretch of highway was the scene of a similar, but smaller, incident in December 1978 when seven people died and 47 were injured in a large chain collision. Another storm in December 1977 caused residents to develop a flu-like respiratory infection, known as Valley Fever, from breathing in large quantities of dust.” (History.com, This Day in History, “Disaster, Nov 29, 1991.”)

 

Syracuse Herald Journal, Dec 1: “Coalinga, Calif. – Crews cleared burned hulks of cars and trucks off an interstate Saturday and tried to identify victims of a pileup that killed 17 people and injured 150 others during a blinding dust storm. Authorities described the series of crashes Friday as the worst highway pileup in state history and perhaps in the nation in terms of dead and injured. The wreckage of vehicles was strewn over a one-mile stretch of Interstate 5 about 160 miles southeast of San Francisco. It shut down a 100-mile portion of the major north-south interstate between San Francisco and Los Angeles. The interstate was expected to reopen later Saturday.

 

“The death toll could mount because 20 of the injured remained in critical condition in hospitals and the California Highway Patrol was still inspecting some charred wreckage for possible bodies. Authorities had identified three victims so far, but their names were not released because, relatives had yet to be notified.

 

“The crashes involved 93 cars and 11 big rigs. More than a dozen vehicles burned down to metal frames. Others were smashed from all sides. Some appeared to have been involved in simple fender benders right after the crash.

 

“”By the time I saw brake lights, it was too late to stop’ said Johnny John of San Jose. He was taken to an overnight shelter with other drivers and passengers who weren’t injured. Peter Harvey of Oakland, like many others traveling home from a Thanksgiving Day get-together, said his family barely escaped death. “Visibility came and went and this time it went all of a sudden,” Harvey said. “We barely rear-ended a car and then when we looked back what we saw was a big rig carrying hay, coming right at us. “We grabbed our kids, got out of the car and ran to the side of the road.”

 

“Others weren’t so fortunate. Nine bodies found in one of the worst charred areas were burned beyond recognition, the highway patrol said. One man was impaled by a bumper as he was trying to lift his son from the back of his pickup truck, said…a highway patrol spokesman.

 

“The highway patrol didn’t close the interstate before the blinding dust storm because it came up too quickly,” he said.” (Syracuse Herald Journal, NY. “Crews struggle to identify pileup victims.” 12-1-1991, 39.)

Sources

 

Hellman, Paul T. Historical Gazetteer of the United States. NY: Routledge, 2005, p. 149. Partially Google digitized: http://books.google.com/books?id=EQ-R4O2L3nEC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

History.com. This Day in History, Disaster, November 29, 1991. “Dust Storm Causes Massive Pileup in California.” Accessed 11/25/2008 at: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&displayDate=11/29&categoryId=disaster

 

Mountain Democrat, Placerville, CA. “Shingle Springs woman dies in Interstate 5 pileup.” 12-2-1991, 3. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=9430271

 

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Partial Data Dump of Crashes Involving 10 or More Fatalities, by Year, Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) 1975-2009 Final and 2010 ARF. Washington, DC: NHTSA, pdf file provided to Wayne Blanchard, 1-26-2012.

 

National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office, San Joaquin Valley-Hanford. The Top 15 Weather Events in the Central California Interior (website). 1-6-2011. Accessed 1-29-2012 at: http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/hnx/events/Top15WxEvents.pdf

 

Syracuse Herald Journal, NY. “Crews struggle to identify pileup victims.” 12-1-1991, 39. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=29540879