Jun. 1—One person is dead and two were taken to area hospitals after a head-on collision on Interstate 5 near Thornton on Wednesday afternoon.

According to the California Highway Patrol’s online logs, officers were dispatched to an area of the interstate near Walnut Grove Road at about 4:40 p.m.

Reports state that a woman in a gray truck was traveling north when, for unknown reasons, she crossed the center median into oncoming traffic. A semi-truck driver saw her and veered out of the way. The woman collided with the side of the truck before hitting another pickup truck head on, reports state.

The woman was pronounced dead at the scene. The San Joaquin County Coroner and Medical Examiner identified her as 65-year-old Praveena Nordfelt of Fresno.

According to KCRA, several other motorists exited their vehicles to help Nordfelt.

One person ran to the site with a fire extinguisher, while others brought blankets to comfort the people in the vehicles.

Others helped firefighters use a hose to put out the fire caused by the crash, KCRA said, including Colton Tulley, a firefighter from Fresno, who helped extract Nordfelt from her vehicle.

“I was coming northbound on I-5 and saw a plume of smoke,” Tulley said. “I saw people trying to use extinguishers, so I pulled over, and came over to see if anyone was in the vehicle. She was pinned in there. We tried to pull her out through the window. The door was jammed shut.”

Officials said a doctor, nurse and off-duty firefighter were among the good Samaritans.

The wreck stopped traffic on I-5 in both directions for several hours. All lanes were reopened by 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, reports state.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

Lodi man arrested on several weapons charges

A Lodi man was arrested this week on several weapons and drug charges during a gun registration check coordinated with the AB109 Task Force, according to the Lodi Police Department.

Officers contacted 23-year-old Justice Birt at his residence and found he had a felony warrant out for his arrest as he was prohibited from owning firearms or ammunition, police said.

A search warrant was obtained, and officers found two unregistered, unserialized rifles; two unregistered, unserialized handguns; one stolen handgun; rifle and handgun ammunition; high-capacity magazines for both rifles and handguns; and marijuana and marijuana products, psilocybin mushrooms, and concentrated cannabis for sale.

Birt was arrested for the warrant and was charged with numerous weapons and drug violations, police said.

Assembly Bill 109 allows current non-violent, non-serious, and non-sex offenders to be supervised at the county level once they are released from California State prisons. Instead of reporting to state parole officers, these offenders are to report to local county probation officers.