A woman was killed on Monday after high winds blew a tree over onto her vehicle outside a residence in Tustin, the Orange County Fire authority said.
The OCFA tweeted that firefighters were dispatched to the 14000 block of Red Hill Avenue just after 9 a.m. Monday morning after reports of a tree falling on a car there.
"I saw the car crushed,'' Danny McCabe told KCAL9. "The neighbors said there's somebody in there. I ripped off the branches and asked, 'Hello ma'am, can you hear me?' I checked for a pulse in her wrist. I checked for a pulse in her throat and I couldn't feel any. There (were) live wires behind the car, and there's nothing I could do."
The woman inside the vehicle was pronounced dead at the scene. Her name has been withheld pending notification of kin.
The tree also brought some power lines down with it. A neighbor told reporters that he tried reaching the woman inside the car, but he was too late.
Southern California Edison says they were called regarding the downed power lines at the location with a representative noting that wires were "down all over Tustin and Santa Ana" due to the winds.
The accident was reported as some of the strongest Santa Ana winds in years sweeps through the Southern California area, with many gusts topping 70 mph in some mountain areas.
Forecasters say the strong Santa Ana winds and low humidity will combine today to create a high risk of wildfire across the Southland, the National Weather Service says.
A red flag warning has been issued for the San Gabriel mountains, the Angeles National Forest, The Santa Monica Mountains Recreational Area, the San Fernando, Santa Clarita and San Gabriel Valleys.
Some areas in the mountains can expect to see winds between 25 and 45 miles per hour, with gusts of up to 65 mph.
“If fire ignition occurs, conditions are favorable for extreme fire behavior, which would threaten life and property,” warned a statement issued by the NWS in Oxnard.
Photo: OCFA