A big rig crashed and burst into flames on the I-805 bridge over Mission Valley at daybreak Tuesday, leaving the driver dead and tangling traffic for more than 12 hours.
The southbound tractor-trailer veered off the roadway and hit a row of impact-attenuating barrels in front of a wall alongside the ramp to Interstate 8 at about 6 a.m., according to the California Highway Patrol.
A 911 caller told a dispatcher that the commercial vehicle then “exploded,” the CHP said.
The trucker died at the scene of the wreck. The person’s name was withheld pending family notification.
As the truck burned, diesel fuel spilled out of its wreckage and flowed off the bridge, witnesses said. A woman reported that her vehicle had been damaged by debris from the accident while parked below the span in the 9000 block of Rio San Diego Drive in Mission Valley.
The vehicle was apparently carrying almonds, which rained down onto buildings and the road below.
The crash and fire left the southbound 805 entirely blocked in the area for hours. The CHP advised motorists traveling through Mission Valley to use state Route163 in lieu of the 805 until further notice.
As of early afternoon, a second southbound lane at the accident site – the one on the far right side of the roadway – was open again for through traffic, allowing motorists to merge onto I-8, the Highway Patrol advised.
As of 6:30 p.m., all freeway lanes in the area had been reopened, the CHP reported.
The fuel spill “did not affect any nearby waterways,” CHP public affairs Officer Michael Wessendorf said.
No other injuries were reported.
Updated 3:40 p.m. March 3, 2026.
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