According to information released by the Eureka Police Department, early Monday evening, July 21st, Eureka Police officers and the Humboldt Bay Fire Department were dispatched to reports of vehicle fire in the parking lot of a business at an address on Broadway St. just before 7:00pm.
Eureka Police and Fire units arrived to the scene of a fully engulfed van in the parking lot of a restaurant. Fire suppression was immediately initiated and the van’s female driver was found deceased at the scene.
Eureka Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Unit and Major/Fatal Injury Traffic Investigations responded to the scene to conduct an investigation the incident.
According to the report, the incident began when the Fortuna Police Department contacted the Eureka Police Department at approximately 6:45pm to report a New Life Service van as stolen.
The owner of the van then contacted the Eureka Police Department and advised that the van may be traveling to Eureka before the California Highway Patrol advised the Eureka Police Department that the van was speeding northbound on Hwy 101 and may have hit a guardrail and a witness reported the van was traveling north on Broadway, driving into oncoming traffic.
The stolen van traveled north on Broadway at a high rate of speed when it veered off the road, jumped the northeast curb at W. Grant Street, and continued north along the sidewalk.
The van then entered a parking lot, and crossed W. Washington Street, before crashing through a fence, scattering debris and injuring three pedestrians before colliding into two parked vehicles, one of which was occupied.
A total of 12 vehicles were damaged in the incident. The van caught fire upon impact with a curb, before becoming engulfed in flames, igniting one of the vehicles it struck.
The occupant of the parked vehicle and the injured pedestrians were transported to a local hospital with minor to moderate injuries.
The Humboldt County Coroner’s Office is working to confirm the driver’s identity and notify next of kin.
