By Larry Judkins
Glenn County Observer
For a couple of hours early Sunday morning, Glenn County emergency responders had their hands full, especially around Orland, where two serious accidents occurred within a little more than a half-hour of each other.
At about 1:30 a.m. on Dec. 17, responders were dispatched to a report of a vehicle versus pedestrian accident on the northbound side of Interstate 5, south of County Road 7. Then, 34 minutes later, while still dealing with the accident on I-5, responders were also dispatched to a crash on Highway 32 near County Road Q.
The crash on Highway 32 was a hit-and-runs. The accident on I-5 turned out to be a fatality.
According to the CHP Traffic website, the first accident actually occurred on the northbound side of Interstate 5, on the bridge that goes over Stony Creek. The person who reported the incident said he “believes a vehicle possibly hit a pedestrian.”
The vehicle was initially described as a blue Honda Pilot with a paper dealership plate. Late Monday afternoon’s news release from the Willows Area Office of the California Highway Patrol said the Honda was black.
At 1:41 a.m., a sheriff’s deputy and the California Highway Patrol requested that a traffic break be set up at Newville Road (Highway 32). Orland police officers assisted in setting this break up, an officer told the Glenn County Communications dispatcher.
An early broadcast on the police scanner from Orland Police Officer Jose Flores also reported that the victim of the collision, identified in the sheriff’s logs released on Monday as Gabriel Ramirez Bustamante of Walnut Creek, was “now negative on the breathing.” CPR was initiated.
(Meanwhile, at 1:42 a.m., the Glenn County dispatcher reported a 911 medical aid call was received for a person possibly having a heart attack at 113 South Culver Street in Willows.)
Glenn County Sheriff’s Deputy Oscar Gonzalez stated he was northbound and was going to try to slow down traffic. A little later, it was announced that a traffic break was being started just south of County Road 24.
It was asked if the roadway (most likely meaning the northbound side of the freeway) was completely shut down. In response, it was said that “at this point we have the number two lane [that is, the slow lane] completely shut down. Number one [the fast lane] is still clear.”
A moment later, it was mentioned that “there is debris all over the roadway.” It was also indicated that the CHP had not yet arrived.
It was reported that traffic had slowed just south of County Road 16.
Glenn County Sheriff’s Sergeant Grant Lemmon reported that it had been decided to let traffic continue slowly in one northbound lane on I-5 so that traffic would not have to be diverted onto Highway 32. Sgt. Lemmon then asked Deputy Gonzalez to grab some flares and set them out.
Sgt. Lemmon also told Deputy Gonzalez to pull his (Gonzalez’s) patrol unit up behind Sgt. Lemmon’s, and to use his light bar because Sgt. Lemmon’s vehicle did not have one.
Sgt. Lemmon told the dispatcher that sheriff’s units were now at the scene.
Orland Police Officer Edgar Andrade (call number 509) asked the dispatcher what time he had arrived at the accident scene. The dispatcher replied, “509, it looks like 1:39.”
Officer Andrade then asked, “What time did I start CPR?” The dispatcher answered, “1:42.”
Deputy Gonzalez inquired about what time he had arrived. The dispatcher responded, “You were on scene, creating a traffic break, at 1:45.”
At 2:04 a.m., the fire dispatcher in Corning reported another vehicle accident, this one on Highway 32 at County Road Q. Orland Fire Chief Justin Chaney told him that he was going to remain on the scene of the I-5 incident and that the other firefighters were going to respond from there to the Highway 32 crash.
At about 2:06 a.m., Sgt. Lemmon declared Bustamante to be deceased. A moment later, Chief Chaney told the Corning dispatcher the same thing.
According to the CHP’s news release, the accident on I-5 occurred as Luis A. Manilla Franco, 32, of Phoenix, Ariz., was driving a black 2017 Honda Pilot north on I-5, south of County Road 7. The Honda was traveling in the slow lane of northbound I-5.
A 39-year-old Walnut Creek man, identified in the sheriff’s logs as Gabriel Ramirez Bustamante, was walking north on I-5. For undetermined reasons, a collision occurred between the pedestrian and the Honda.
As stated above, Bustamante succumbed to his injuries at the scene.
According to CHP Officer S. Curteman, the driver of the Honda was wearing his seatbelts and was not injured. Officer Curteman concluded the news release, “Drunk driving was not a factor in this collision.”
After Bustamante was declared dead, Chief Chaney told the fire dispatcher he was leaving the I-5 incident and heading to the Highway 32 crash.
A firefighter already on the scene told Corning dispatch an AT&T pole was down with a guy wire over a PG&E pole and a line hanging eight or nine feet over the roadway. “Definite hazard,” he said. “We’re gonna have to shut down traffic.”
No driver was found at the scene. However, a couple of witnesses said that two men were seen walking east on Highway 32, east of County Road Q.
A responder commented that the men were probably about a mile east of the accident scene by now. The CHP was notified.
The men were not located. PG&E and AT&T arrived at the crash scene and repaired or replaced the pole and guy wires.
The highway was reopened at about 3:15 a.m.
The Glenn County Observer 