Car running red light crashes into truck that bursts into flames on impact in La Palma, police say

A man driving a pickup truck appeared to have escaped major injury when it burst into flames after a sedan crashed into the vehicle in La Palma early Tuesday.

Police said the truck had exited the 91 Freeway at 2 a.m. and was turning on a green light onto Orangethorpe Avenue when a sedan approaching the intersection failed to stop at a red light and smashed into the pickup.

Firefighters extinguished the truck and treated its driver and the two occupants of the sedan, a man and woman who were able to get out of the car on their own. All three were taken to hospitals.

“(The truck driver) did see the flames and was able to exit the vehicle,” La Palma police Officer Justin Braasch said.

The truck driver, Jose Molina, said he exited the freeway and was turning right when he was hit. He escaped with some cuts and complaints of pain.

“The car, I guess, didn’t make the stop when it came to the red light,” the man said at the scene. “Then I just felt the impact from behind.”