Prince George family killed in fiery crash near Williams Lake

Five people, including a Prince George family of four, are dead after a horrific head-on crash north of Williams Lake in the B.C. Interior.

The five victims were travelling in an SUV that crossed the centre line into the path of an oncoming semi-trailer, said Madonna Saunders from the Prince George RCMP.

The two vehicles ended up in a ditch engulfed in flames.

Matt Altizer, 40, a systems manager at the Prince George Citizen, his wife Leah and their two children — Jonathan, a Grade 8 student and Emily, a Grade 6 student — died in the crash, the newspaper said on its website Thursday

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The family was driving to Vancouver to attend a Davis Cup tennis match — a lifelong dream of Altizer, according to the Citizen

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The driver of the semi-trailer was unharmed and it is unclear who the fifth victim is

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Police spoke of the horrible, fiery scene.

“Certainly, in my service, this is one of the most horrific crashes I’ve been involved with,” said Saunders.

Insp. Warren Brown of the Williams Lake RCMP said the fiery crash is as harrowing a scene RCMP members in the area can recall.

Brown said emergency services were contacted at 10 a.m. Thursday and told there was a burning vehicle in a ditch two kilometres north of McLeese Lake, 10 kilometres north of Williams Lake

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“When our members arrived they found two vehicles in the ditch: a semi-trailer and a car fully engulfed in flames,” he said.

The police were unable to do anything to quell the flames, beyond using their cruiser fire extinguishers, and had to watch in horror.

A fire tender was dispatched from the Wildwood Fire Department and the blaze was eventually brought under contro

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Police, collision analysts and commercial vehicle inspectors remained at the scene well into the evening, trying to determine what exactly happened.

Saunders said investigators initially on scene spoke of bare and dry road conditions

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It is too early to determine if speed or alcohol were factors in the crash.

Saunders was also told by the sergeant for the Williams Lake traffic detachment there have been no major accidents on the stretch of road recently or even historically, “certainly of this magnitude.”

A coroner attended but left the scene, being able to determine the five deceased because the fire damage was so great.

As of 7 p.m. Thursday, the semi and SUV still lay in the ditch in a heap of twisted carnage.

“I’m sure [the coroner] will be back at the scene once they’re able to remove the semi from the SUV and remove the remains,” said Saunders.

Traffic along the highway had been open to single lane, alternating traffic until well into the night Thursday.