The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department released the identity of a search and rescue volunteer who was killed after responding to a rollover traffic collision on the northbound side of Interstate 5, just south of Vista Del Lago Road, near Pyramid Lake on Saturday morning.
Fillmore Search and Rescue Team member Jeff Dye was helping others when he was struck and killed by another vehicle, according to Sgt. Eric Buschow, a public information officer with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.
The series of events that lead to the fatal collision began with a call at 7:15 a.m. for a rolled over vehicle, according to Officer Josh Greengard with the California Highway Patrol Newhall office.
The search and rescue truck carrying Dye was on its way to a training mission in the Mt. Pinos area Saturday, when the call came out, according to Bushcow.
“That location provides good training for real winter training without the need to go anywhere far,” Bushcow said.
Being near the area, Dye and his crew decided to respond to the emergency, beating even the CHP officers to the scene.
“They were providing aid to the rolled-over vehicle when their (search and rescue truck) got hit.” Greengard said.
Nine other individuals, outside of the Ventura County volunteer, were also transported from the scene of the multi-vehicle collision, according to Capt. Tony Imbrenda of the Los Angeles County Fire Department, who was on the scene assisting with the first response.
Of those nine individuals, five were first responders who were sent to Henry Mayo Newhall hospital, with one being treated and later discharged, according to Sgt. Eric Buschow, a public information officer with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.
Dye’s body was later transported to the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner/Coroner’s office and was escorted down the southbound side of the I-5 by a procession of first responder personnel and vehicles.
The cause of the collision is still under investigation, and the status of each surviving victim has not yet been determined.
