BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK/KBFX) — The Kern County Coroner’s Office identified the driver killed in a solo-vehicle crash that resulted in an over 500-acre brush fire along Highway 58 as 28-year-old Eric Daniel Garcia of Bakersfield.
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The California Highway Patrol said on Friday, June 19, 2026, at around 4:30 p.m., officers were called to westbound Highway 58, east of General Beale Road, for a report of a crash involving a vehicle that had gone down an embankment.
CHP said a preliminary investigation found that Garcia was driving a 2013 Hyundai Azera westbound on Highway 58, east of General Beale Road, at a speed in excess of the posted speed limit.
According to CHP, for reasons still under investigation, the driver lost control of the vehicle and collided with a drainage ditch along the right shoulder. The Hyundai continued out of control, overturned while descending the embankment, and the driver was ejected from the vehicle.
As a result of the crash, Garcia died.
The crash also resulted in a brush fire. According to CalFire, the so-called Star Fire burned 577 acres and is 100% contained.
CHP said it is unknown whether alcohol and/or drugs were factors in this crash.
Anyone with information regarding the crash is asked to call CHP Bakersfield at (661) 396-6600.