One person has died after a semi-truck carrying hundreds of thousands of almonds crashed and caught fire on southbound Interstate 805 near Mission Valley early Tuesday, causing lane closures, the California Highway Patrol said. The crash was reported around 6 a.m. after the semi-truck appeared to hit a crash cushion, a safety device used to absorb impact, at the I-805 and Interstate 8 split. CHP says that as a result of the crash, the truck caught fire and was fully engulfed. A witness told CHP it appeared the semi “exploded” after impact. Smoke and fire from the crash could be seen early Tuesday morning from miles away. The crash closed I-805 south to all but one lane for much of the day. By 4 p.m., only one lane remained open. From SkyRanger 7 overhead, drivers were seen being let onto the I-8 transition ramp by 4 p.m. as well. It was unclear if other lanes would reopen ahead of the evening commute. Drivers are advised to utilize alternate routes. The semi-truck after the fire was put out on March 3, 2026. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene. It is unknown if alcohol and or drugs were a factor in the crash. The name of the victim is not being released until family members are notified. The semi was carrying almonds, and hundreds of thousands of nuts were scattered across the freeway and over the I-805 bridge onto businesses below. Robert Cabanas was loading up tools and getting ready to work when he heard a “big boom.” “We look up, we see all these almonds start falling from the tree or … from the bridge and a big cloud of smoke,” Cabanas said. “And then a bunch of ash and everything’s all falling down. And I came out to check my truck and it just got littered with almonds.” Image of a car underneath the I-805 that had almonds fall on top of it after the crash on March 3, 2026. “It went up quick — within two minutes it was fully engulfed. Yeah, it was pretty quick. I don’t know if almonds are that flammable or if the truck was just that flammable,” Cabanas added. CHP investigators said a combination of diesel and oil did spill into a storm drain, but did not affect any nearby waterways. “And the thing is also is that when the truck crashed, the load kind of burst out of the trailer, and it spread everywhere. So it was scattered all over the road, but there were also piles of it. You have diesel fuel and you have the burnable materials of the vehicle itself — the rubber, the plastics, all that kind of stuff,” said Ray Scheidnes with CHP. The bridge is being inspected for any signs of damage and the cause of the accident still under investigation. Anyone who witnessed the crash is asked to contact the CHP at (858) 293-6000. Please refresh this page for updates on this story. Details may change as more information becomes available. This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser. ...read more read less