Vehicle fire closes Tuolumne offramp/onramp

The Tuolumne Road offramp/onramp for southbound Highway 99 closed for about an hour Wednesday evening after a car caught fire following a crash.

At about 5:15 p.m., the driver was exiting from southbound 99 at a high speed when he lost control of the vehicle and drove up onto an embankment, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The car flew off the embankment and landed in the middle of the road where its engine compartment caught fire.

The driver escaped with only minor injuries.

A column of smoke from the fire could be seen from the highway while the car was fully engulfed but firefighters quickly extinguished the flames.

This story was originally published November 4, 2015 at 6:57 PM with the headline "Vehicle fire closes Tuolumne offramp/onramp."