Carbon Canyon Road Fatal Accident and Closure

Due to a fatal traffic accident at Feldspar, where Summit Ranch is located, Carbon Canyon Road was closed at 9:50 this morning.  No further information was provided, including an ETA for reopening.

UPDATE, 6:40 p.m.:  Just received a notification that Carbon Canyon Road is now fully open following the completion of the investigation of this morning's fatal accident.

UPDATE, 10:40 p.m.: The fatal crash this morning took place before 5:50 and involved a two-car head-on collision with one car engulfed in flames and a person dead.  Some discussion has concerned whether lengthy closures should lead to opening of the emergency gates on Canon Lane leading north of Eucalyptus Avenue.  Authorities, however, would likely respond that these are only to be used with evacuations during natural disasters such as wildfire.

Another Carbon Canyon Road Closure

Friday, 15 May: 7:30 p.m.  Today, the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin reported that James Coffin, who has been held at county jail since his arrest in this horrible accident, has pled not guilty to murder charges.

Ir was also noted in the piece that Coffin has a prior DUI conviction, that having occurred in 2010.

Notably, while the article stated that "investigators believed alcohol was a factor in the collision," nothing was said about results from a sample that would show what the blood level was.  A court date, evidently, has not been set.

Sunday, 1 March: 4:30 p.m.  As thought below, the Champion did have a short article in its latest weekly edition dated yesterday concerning the fatal car crash on Carbon Canyon Road just east of Canyon Hills Road.  Here's the text from the paper:

Carbon Canyon fatal collision

Tammy Mae Seagraves of Chino Hills died Thursday night after her northbound Honda Civic was struck head on by a southbound car about 6:50 p.m. on Carbon Canyon Road approaching Canyon Hills Road, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office reported.

Ms. Seagraves, 43, died shortly after arrival at a hospital in Chino Valley. Deputies said Ms. Seagraves’ vehicle collided with a southbound Saturn Ion driven by James Price Coffin, 30.

Mr. Coffin’s vehicle crossed the double yellow center line, according to the report. He was thrown from his car and was taken to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton with non-life threatening injuries.

Mr. Coffin’s city of residence was not available. Alcohol is believed to be a factor in the collision, according to the sheriff’s report. Anyone with information may contact Deputy P. Ortiz or Deputy N. Clark, 387-3545.

Here's another article from the Riverside Press-Enterprise:

Chino Hills:  Head-on crash kills 43 year-old woman

A 43-year-old Chino Hills resident was killed Thursday night, Feb. 26, in a head-on collision in Chino Hills, the San Bernardino County coroner's office said Friday.

About 6:40 p.m., James Coffin, 30, was driving a red Saturn Ion south on Carbon Canyon Road, approaching Canyon Hills Road, when he crossed over the center double yellow line and struck a gray Honda Civic head-on, a Sheriff's Department news release said.

The Honda driver, Tammy Mae Seagraves, was hospitalized and died at Chino Hills Medical Center.

Coffin was ejected and was hospitalized at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton with what were described as injuries that were not life threatening. Coffin was described as a suspect in the crash in which alcohol was believed to be a factor, the release said.

Friday night, 7 p.m.:  This was a fatal accident according to a comment left here as well as a City of Chino Hills emergency alert update.  Perhaps some details will be available in a forthcoming issue of the Champion, unless someone out there knows more.

Here we go again . . .

From the Chino Hills Web site emergency alert page:

February 26, 2015 7:39 PM

Carbon Canyon Road is Closed in the Vicinity of Canyon Hills Road (Circle K)

8:15 update
Carbon Canyon Road is closed due to a major traffic accident between Canon Lane and Canyon Hills. The closure is expected to last several hours. From the Chino Hills side motorists have access to Canon Lane. From the Brea side, Brea Police Department is checking i.d. and allowing Olinda Village and Sleepy Hollow residents access. Additional information will be posted as it is available.

Thursday, Feb. 26th 7:30 pm - Carbon Canyon Road is closed due to a major traffic accident near Canon Lane. The closure is expected to last several hours. From the Chino Hills side, motorists have access to the vicinity of Canon Lane. Brea Police Department is allowing Olinda Village residents access. Additional information will be posted as it becomes available.

Accident Tonight on Carbon Canyon Road in Brea

UPDATE:  A commenter left a note recently that this accident did not involve a fatality, according, it was said, to info received from the Brea Police Department.

While at the Chino Hills Community Park for a baseball game, news came in that a fatal accident occurred somewhere on the Brea side of Carbon Canyon along Carbon Canyon Road.

The highway is closed at the county line for those looking to go west from Chino Hills into Orange County and is also closed on the Brea side, though at what point is not yet known to this blogger.

The City of Chino Hills Web site only states that the road is expected to be closed for several hours because of the ongoing investigation--with fatalities, these can take many hours.

More info to be posted as available.

For the Chino Hills emergency alert page, please click here.

UPDATE, 9:51 p.m.:  According to a City of Chino Hills update, Carbon Canyon Road was opened to all traffic about an hour ago .

Memorializing by Graffiti?

Well, however the previous posts were expressed regarding the death of driver Abel Preciado, who crashed into a power pole in front of the old La Vida Mineral Springs site, and the two roadside memorials that sprung up afterward, the sight yesterday afternoon of the defacing of the surviving La Vida water tank, which has the deceased's first name on it, is a clear indication that someone close to him just couldn't leave well enough alone.

It's one thing to ponder a snap decision that led to tragedy, but deliberation in defacing something that doesn't belong to you actually takes away a lot of the sympathy manifested in the aftermath of mid-September's accident.

Why the two memorials weren't sufficient to express what happened when a tagging seemed like a good idea isn't really worth asking.

Is it too much to ask the good samaritan(s) responsible for painting over previous bouts of graffiti on the old tank to help once again?

A New Carbon Canyon Roadside Memorial

In recent days, a second roadside memorial has appeared for Abel Preciado, who died last month when a car he was driving crashed into a power pole in front of the old La Vida Mineral Springs property on the Brea side of Carbon Canyon.

This monument is on the pole replacing the one destroyed in the crash and is much more elaborate than the first memorial located a little further east.

As the photos here show, a great deal of attention was paid to the memory of the deceased, including handwritten notes, stickers, and a remarkable photograph of Preciado on a piece of the Camaro that he was driving when the accident occurred.

Clearly, this was a person who meant a great deal to his family and friends and this remarkable tribute is all the more lamentable because he was only twenty.