By Joshua Melvin
The San Jose Mercury News
PACIFICA, Calif. — Authorities believe a 39-year-old Pacifica man was drunk early Saturday when he crashed his Cadillac into a boat, van and finally sparked a two-alarm fire in a Half Moon Bay storage facility.
The driver, Matthew J. Burnham, and two passengers were injured in the 1:55 a.m. crash on Airport Street south of Stanford Avenue, said California Highway Patrol Officer Art Montiel. Burnham was later arrested for driving under the influence at Stanford Hospital, where he was treated for fractured ribs and a ruptured spleen, police said.
Burnham was allegedly driving a 2011 Cadillac CTS north on Airport at a high, but undisclosed, rate of speed. He lost control of the car and it veered to the right, hitting a boat and trailer parked on Airport. Then Burnham allegedly hit a van parked near a storage facility.
Montiel said the force of the collision pushed the van into the storage facility and both caught fire. Because cardboard boxes and other materials in the five units burned easily, officials called a second alarm. In all 55 firefighters spent about 90 minutes extinguishing the blaze.
The passengers in the vehicle, Ethan J. Fernandez of Half Moon Bay and John Conrad of Montara, both 21, were also rushed to Stanford hospital. Fernandez had a ruptured spleen and Conrad was suffering from a “foreign object” in his eye, police said. All three people in the Cadillac were wearing seat belts, police said.
Calfire Capt. Jonathan Cox said the damage to the building, two vehicles, the boat and trailer was estimated at $200,000. The crash remains under investigation.
People with information about the wreck can call the California Highway Patrol at 650-369-6261.
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