8 killed in 2 separate Madera County crashes 1 day and 2 miles apart
By: Connie Tran
Updated: July 30, 2018
MADERA, Calif. -
It was a deadly weekend on the streets of Madera County. Eight people were killed in two separate car crashes.
The California Highway Patrol said five people died in a crash on Saturday morning around 11am near Avenue 9 and Road 30. Then on Sunday, investigators said a wrong-way driver hit a family of five head-on on Highway 99 near Avenue 11. Three people died in that crash.
CHP said it's rare to have so many people killed on the streets in a 24-hour period.
The CHP said the female driver of the Dodge sedan that ran through a stop sign at Avenue 9 on Saturday and hit a Chevy pickup truck. Three men were in that truck, including 49-year old Billy Siegel of Lemoore. Siegel served as the mayor of Lemoore from 2012 to 2014. All five passengers in both cars died.
"I know I'm at a loss. I know that I feel bad, and I just can't say enough for his family," said Holly Andrade Blair.
Blair was political colleagues with Siegel, and said she admired his service to the city. She serves on council today.
She said, "When we started talking about our kids, and we started talking about health, and we started talking about air quality, and we started talking about the things that we had in common, and we had far more things in common than we disagreed on."
But tragedy struck Madera County again on early Sunday morning. Madera CHP public information officer Gregorio Rodriguez said three people died on Highway 99, when a woman drove on the opposite side of the freeway, and hit a family head-on. Three are left seriously injured, including two children.
"Having two collisions within 24 hours like that, with the total amount that did succumb to their injuries, is pretty rare," stated Rodriguez.
The CHP said a lot of people are on the roads because of the summer, and that increases the chances of car crashes. They say this serves as a reminder to always be aware of your surroundings on the road, and to drive safely.