Authorities released the name of the 37-year-old La Habra man who was killed when his big rig overturned and caught fire Monday.

Greg Scott Etienne was trapped inside his big rig after colliding with two vehicles on the shoulder of southbound Interstate 15 in Lake Elsinore. He died at the scene.


A tanker truck hauling flour caught fire, trapping the driver, after a traffic collision with a passenger vehicle on the southbound I-15 in Lake Elsinore Monday. (Riverside County Fire Department)

The collision was reported at 10:55 a.m. just north of Lake Street, said Officer Sylvia Vargas, public information officer with the California Highway Patrol.

According to CHP, the big rig was traveling southbound in the No. 3 lane when it "failed to maintain its proper roadway position and traveled onto the right shoulder," where it collided with a 1999 Dodge Durango that had blown a tire, and a 1994 Honda Civic that were both in right shoulder.

The driver of the Honda, Joel Duenas, 22, was critically injured when the impact of the crash caused the Honda to hit him, throwing him down a dirt embankment. He was taken by ambulance to Inland Valley Hospital in Wildomar with major injuries.

The big rig continued southbound before it jack-knifed into a dirt embankment, trapping the driver and erupting into flames, Vargas said. Etienne was pronounced dead at the scene at 12:10 p.m., according to the Riverside County Coroner's Office. The coroner's office also noted Etienne was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash.

The driver of the Durango, Johnathan Winsor, 22, of Murrieta, was not injured, Vargas said.

Fire crews were able to quickly contain the flames consuming the 18-wheeler, which was hauling flour for food processing, some of which spilled along the freeway.