By Rachel McGrath
The Ventura County Star
VENTURA, Calif. — A 23-year-old Ventura County firefighter from Westlake Village was one of two men killed Monday in a traffic crash on Interstate 5 in Fresno County, officials said.
Bryan Banister was killed instantly when he and a Good Samaritan were struck by a sport utility vehicle that plowed into them as they were refueling Banister’s pickup truck on the right shoulder of the freeway near Coalinga.
The man who was helping Banister was identified as Rigoberto Gomez Cortez, 21, of Kerman, near Fresno. According to the California Highway Patrol, Cortez had been working in a nearby field and climbed over the freeway perimeter fence to help Banister, whose truck had run out of gas.
The accident occurred at 12:22 p.m. on a rural stretch of the highway, CHP Officer Chris Webber said Tuesday.
“It’s out in the middle of nowhere,” Webber said. “The two men were refueling the truck on the traffic side when they were hit from behind.”
Authorities said Cynthia Merrit, 62, of Fresno was driving north in her Chevy Tahoe SUV when, the CHP says, she drove directly into the rear of the pickup truck, striking both men. Her vehicle then overturned.
Merrit had to be cut free from her vehicle by emergency responders. She sustained moderate injuries and was taken to Fresno Community Medical Center, Webber said.
A passenger in Banister’s pick-up truck, Christy McCallson, 23, of North Hollywood, was unhurt, according to the CHP.
Webber said neither alcohol nor drugs appeared to be a factor in the crash, though the investigation is still under way.
Banister was a member of a hand crew in the Ventura County Fire Department’s wildland division, which fights brush fires.
A department spokesman said Banister was in his third year as a fire control worker and had recently been promoted to permanent status. The wildland division is headquartered in Oxnard.
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