5 people injured in fiery 4-car crash on I-5 near Bellis Fair Mall

PETER JENSEN - THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

E-Mail

Text Size:

tool goes here

Five people suffered minor injuries in a fiery four-car crash on northbound Interstate 5 near Bellis Fair mall in Bellingham Saturday, Oct. 11.

Blaine resident Patsy Felty, 62, was in the exit lane at about 2 p.m. when she crashed her Ford Taurus into a minivan, which quickly burst into flames, said Trooper Scott Brown of the Washington State Patrol.

Felty's car also caught on fire and she was briefly trapped, but a passing motorist pulled over and helped her out of the car, Brown said.

| ZIANNA WESTON | COURTESY PHOTO - NOT FOR SALE

The van's driver, 34-year-old Casandra DeLucia of Ferndale, was able to get out of her car. Bellingham Fire Department firefighters put out the fire 10 minutes later, but it had already gutted both cars, Brown said.

Felty and DeLucia were transported to St. Joseph Hospital, Brown said.

Felty was distracted and looking at her car's GPS system when she hit the van, which was stopped at the exit, Brown said.

She will likely be cited with following too close, Brown said.

The force of the crash pushed the van into the third car, which hit the fourth car. These cars didn't catch fire.

The third car's driver, 29-year-old Lisa Tavarez of Bellingham, was transported to the hospital. The fourth car had two people inside who were treated by medics at the scene.