Two killed in upstate crash

A local resident was killed and another injured in a car crash in Northern California after another driver was traveling on the wrong side of the road on a foggy Tuesday morning.

Huntington Beach resident Jessica Ann Faber, 18, and Gregory John Wessels, 23, of Fountain Valley, were driving along Interstate 80 in Auburn City when their car met a 1999 Infiniti G20 going westbound in the eastbound lane, officials said.

Faber was driving a red 2000 Hyundai Elantra when it collided head-on with the Infiniti, killing Faber and driver Christopher Dann, 21, of Auburn, authorities said.

The Hyundai caught fire after the crash, and Wessels was able to get out of the vehicle. He received third-degree burns and was taken to the hospital, where he is still in critical condition, said Auburn area California Highway Patrol Officer Liz Meeks.

Officials received reports of the Infiniti driving on the wrong side of the road a minute before the crash was reported.

The section of the interstate where the crash occurred is not a major collision section, and officers don’t believe the fog played a role, Meeks said.

Officers aren’t sure why Dann was traveling on the wrong side of the road and are conducting further investigation, including a toxicology report, Meeks said.

— Britney Barnes