One dead in weekend Delta highway collision

The California Highway Patrol is investigating the cause of a fatal collision that spurred a Sig-alert and closed Highway 160 lanes early Sunday, authorities said.

RIO VISTA — The California Highway Patrol is investigating the cause of a fatal collision that spurred a Sig-alert and closed Highway 160 lanes early Sunday, authorities said.

Shortly after 3:50 a.m., CHP officers responded to northbound Hwy. 160 lanes just south of the Three Mile Slough Bridge near Sherman Island East Levee Road for a report of a collision, the CHP said in a statement Sunday afternoon.

When officers arrived, they learned that a Nissan Frontier pickup truck was driving in northbound lanes at an unknown rate of speed when it turned onto the right-hand shoulder and struck an empty and disabled GMC flatbed truck fully parked there.

The force of the collision sent both trucks off the roadway and down an embankment, where they caught fire and started a half-acre grass fire.

With Fairfield Fire Department firefighters providing a station cover, Rio Vista Fire Department firefighters responded to the collision scene with two engines, a truck and battalion chief, extinguishing the fire and assisting with extrication efforts.

However, the Nissan’s driver was pronounced dead at the scene, and the driver’s identity was not immediately available from Sacramento County coroner’s division.

The CHP issued a Sig-alert closing all but one lane at 5:19 a.m. and advising drivers to seek alternate routes. The alert was lifted shortly before 9:40 a.m.

Investigators had no preliminary information on whether alcohol or substances were collision factors.

Contact George Kelly at 408-859-5180.