Early Tuesday morning, June 2, 2026, on I-75 in Charlotte County, a 26-year-old Land O’ Lakes man crashed his Toyota Corolla into a semi-truck, setting off a blaze that burned both his car and about a quarter acre of roadside brush. The crash happened around 4:46 a.m., just south of Tucker’s Grade, with the Florida Highway Patrol reporting that the Corolla’s driver, heading north in the right lane, veered left into the center lane. That’s when the front of his car struck the back trailer of a Volvo semi, driven by a 54-year-old Tampa man.
After the impact, the Toyota spun off the highway, crashed into the woods, and caught fire. The driver suffered only minor injuries and went to a local hospital for treatment. Fortunately, the semi-truck driver wasn’t hurt.
Firefighters arrived to find the car ablaze, flames spreading into nearby vegetation. Crews put out both the vehicle fire and the brush fire, which burned roughly a quarter acre. Charlotte County Fire & EMS dispatched Engine 7, Engine 6, Tanker 6, Rescue 32, and Battalion 1. EMS checked one person but refused hospital transport.
FHP continues to investigate the crash. The fire crews confirmed the brush fire started because of the accident.
