A tour bus driver watched a cement truck flip and slide directly toward his vehicle on a winding Sierra Nevada highway, sparking a wildfire that has forced evacuations and threatened dozens of structures near Yosemite.
The Colorado Fire has burned approximately 250 acres in Mariposa County since the crash Tuesday afternoon on Highway 140, according to fire officials and the tour company whose dashcam captured the incident.
Extranomical Tours released the footage late Tuesday showing the cement truck rounding a corner before clipping a guardrail and overturning. The truck slid down the road at speed, tapped the tour bus, and came to rest in a cloud of smoke just inches away.
The company said its driver had no guests on board when the crash occurred around 1:30 p.m. On a winding stretch of the highway. Liquid from the overturned truck leaked out and ignited, triggering the fast-moving blaze.
The tour bus driver rendered aid to the cement truck operator and called 911, the company stated. The bus driver was uninjured but shaken by the near-miss.
The cement truck driver’s condition remains unknown.
Evacuation orders have been issued for Mariposa zones 546, 548 and 549, with warnings extended to zones 550 and 551. Roughly 45 structures are threatened as the fire burns near the Merced River and spreads upslope.
Ground crews have struggled to access the flames due to steep terrain, though aircraft have continued attacking the blaze from above. Footage showed an aerial firefighting unit dumping water on the fire Tuesday evening.
An update from fire officials Tuesday night said crews would “continue their fire fight throughout the night to control the fire and mitigate further damage.”
Highway 140 remains closed from Briceburg to the Bug Hostel, and Rancheria Creek Road is also shut down. The closures have disrupted access to one of the main routes into Yosemite National Park.
The fire started when the cement truck overturned on the narrow mountain road, with leaked fluid igniting almost immediately after the crash. The dashcam footage shows the vehicle flipping and sliding in a sequence lasting only seconds before impact.
The Extranomical Tours driver had been navigating the same winding stretch of Highway 140 where the cement truck lost control. The two vehicles met at speed around the corner where the guardrail failed to prevent the truck’s rollover.
Tuesday’s crash and subsequent fire came amid heightened wildfire concerns across California, with steep terrain and limited access hampering response efforts in the Sierra Nevada foothills.
Firefighters face ongoing challenges as the blaze continues burning upslope from the Merced River. Aircraft remain critical to the suppression effort where ground crews cannot safely reach.
Crews are expected to continue battling the Colorado Fire through the steep terrain near Yosemite.