Two children and a woman died in a head-on collision on Highway 154 near Cold Spring Bridge on Friday evening.
Santa Barbara County Fire responded at about 5:20 p.m. Friday to the crash that involved a Camaro, a sedan and an SUV, officials said.
The Camaro was westbound when for unknown reasons it crossed the double yellow line and collided with an eastbound sedan occupied by a woman and two children, a county Fire Department spokesman said.
After the head-on impact the Camaro came to rest on Cold Spring Bridge while the sedan came to rest on the shoulder of the eastbound lane.
The sedan’s female driver and two children died at the scene as a result of the impact and a subsequent two-acre vegetation fire.
The male driver of the Camaro was trapped inside his vehicle. He was extracted after about 15 minutes and transported to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital with life-threatening injuries. He was undergoing surgery late Friday.
An SUV that had been trailing the sedan hit debris from the crash. The male driver and a 13-year-old passenger were not injured.
The vegetation fire ignited by the collision was contained by the county Fire Department with assistance from Los Padres National Forest firefighters.
As of Friday night, Highway 154 was closed for the California Highway Patrol’s investigation.
email: stha@newspress.com
