One driver was dead and another injured after a fiery head-on crash Thursday morning when two vehicles collided on a rural road south of Rancho Cordova.
The crash, which involved a white Tesla and a silver Ford, was reported at 8:48 a.m. on Excelsior Road, just south of Westerly Drive, according to California Highway Patrol online dispatch records.
The Tesla's driver was reportedly speeding and driving recklessly before the crash occurred, according to the CHP. Both vehicles came to a stop and blocked the two-lane road just south of Mather Airport and north of Kiefer Boulevard.
The CHP reported that the Tesla caught fire after the crash, and firefighters worked to extinguish the car fire.
Firefighters arrived at the scene and found both vehicles had sustained major damage in the crash, said Battalion Chief Parker Wilbourn, a spokesman for the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District.
A photo from the scene showed the white Tesla came to rest on its wheels with most of its front end charred by fire. The silver Ford came to rest on its roof in the opposite lane of the road.
Wilbourn said the driver of Tesla was pronounced dead inside the car. The Sacramento County Coroner's Office will release the driver's name and age after the family has been notified.
The driver in the overturned vehicle suffered minor injuries, was treated by medics at the scene and later released, Wilbourn said.
The CHP called for two tow-trucks to haul away the vehicles to collect for evidence. Shortly before 10 a.m. Thursday, the CHP announced Excelsior Road, between Farm Road and Westerly Drive, would be closed to traffic for three to four hours as officers investigate at the scene and crews remove the wreckage from the road.
A spokesman for the CHP East Sacramento Area Office was not immediately available Thursday to provide any additional details about the fatal crash.