A Lake County government official was killed early Friday morning when his car collided head-on with a semi-truck on Highway 20 in Colusa County, according to officials. Lars Ewing, 49, of Lakeport, who had served as Lake County’s Public Works director, died at the scene after his 1995 Honda drifted into oncoming traffic and struck a 2024 International semi-truck head-on. The 42-year-old semi-truck driver, of Yuba City, was hospitalized with injuries. Both vehicles caught fire on impact, and the highway remained closed for several hours while crews extinguished the blaze and cleared a diesel fuel spill.

Lake County News reported that the Lake County Sheriff’s Office confirmed Ewing’s death, noting he had submitted his resignation from the Public Works post just one day before the crash. The outlet reported that the California Highway Patrol’s Williams office said the collision occurred around 8 a.m. in clear conditions on a straight stretch of highway east of Lone Star Road. CHP said the cause of the crash remains under investigation. Appeal-Democrat additionally reported that a hazardous materials team responded after roughly 120 to 150 gallons of diesel fuel spilled from the wreck, and that the highway did not fully reopen until nearly 3:50 p.m.