BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK/KBFX) — UPDATE (3:44 P.M.): According to the Caltrans camera, all northbound lanes have reopened.
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An ambulance, transporting a patient with CPR in progress, crashed into a Caltrans vehicle within the closure caused by a semi-truck fire Wednesday afternoon.
CHP officials said crews were already working at the scene of an Amazon semi-truck fire that had reduced traffic to one open lane on northbound Interstate 5 near the escape ramp.
RELATED: Northbound I-5 lanes impacted as crews battle semi-truck fire near escape ramp
CHP said officers were aware that an ambulance was actively transporting a patient through the congested area while emergency personnel performed CPR on a patient.
As the vehicle approached the area, CHP said for unknown reasons, the ambulance crashed into the back of a Caltrans vehicle.
The Caltrans worker involved in the crash reported a complaint of pain.
CHP said a medical aircraft was requested for the patient who had been inside the ambulance. However, the patient was pronounced dead by the time the air ambulance arrived. The helicopter departed within minutes without transporting the patient.
CHP said authorities were waiting for the coroner’s office to respond to the scene.
It was not immediately known what medical emergency prompted the patient’s original ambulance transport, but the ambulance had been traveling from south to north when the crash happened.
The Amazon semi-truck was cleared from the scene; however, due to the crash, one lane remains open.