BASS LAKE – A volunteer firefighter was in the right place at a bad time when two cars crashed after losing control on black ice near Bass Lake this morning.
Just after 9 a.m., Madera County Paid Call Firefighter Rachel Rivera was westbound on her way to her job at Bass Lake Home Rentals when she hit a patch of black ice on Road 274 just west of Fawn Point.
Rivera let off the gas and was able to correct her line of travel, but as she looked in the rearview mirror, she saw a Ford Mustang behind her spin out and crash off the north side of the road.
After smashing through several trees, the Mustang’s plunge down the hill was stopped by a heavy 3-cable fence that saved it from ending up in the icy water of the creek below.
True to her training, Rivera wasted no time bailing out of her car and down the steep embankment to help the 49-year-old North Fork woman out of her wrecked car and up to the roadway.
The driver had just dropped off her 15-year-old son at his elderly grandparent’s house to help with some work around the property, so she was the only one in the car at the time of the crash.
Just as the two reached the shoulder of the road after the muddy climb, a westbound green sedan, driven by a 22-year-old man also from North Fork, hit the slick spot, spun around and crashed into a tree on the south side of the road.
The driver and his dog were both okay, if a bit shaken up.
The driver of the Mustang was checked out by Sierra Ambulance personnel and though she suffered some bumps and bruises, declined transport for further treatment.
Cal Fire and Madera County Sheriff’s deputies responded to assist CHP at the scene.
