Cathy Perfect
Kern Valley Sun

Four Bodfish residents are lucky to be alive after their Toyota SUV careened off Kern Canyon Road near the Democrat Hot Springs turnout, struck a tree and burst into flames.

“We would probably have four dead people if that tree (that kept the vehicle from rolling farther down an embankment) wasn’t there,” commented one CHP officer assessing the scene.

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Gina Campbell, 28, was driving eastbound on Hwy. 178 in the Kern Canyon at approximately 10:45 a.m. Thursday morning, when she allowed the vehicle’s right tires to drift off the roadway while she attempted to negotiate a sharp left curve near the Democrat Hot Springs Rd., according to a CHP report.

When Campbell’s vehicle struck the dirt shoulder, she overcorrected, causing the Toyota to rotate counterclockwise across both traffic lanes and overturn down a steep mountainside. The vehicle struck a large tree, which stopped it from rolling farther down the mountainside.

When the vehicle came to rest, all four occupants – Brian Campbell, 26, Timothy Campbell, 18, and Debrah Schneider, 46, and Gina Campbell, all of Bodfish – were able to free themselves from the vehicle just before it caught fire.

All were transported by ground ambulance to Kern Medical Center in Bakersfield with minor to moderate injuries. Gina Campbell and Schneider, in the front seat, were seatbelted; however, according to the report, Brian and Timothy Campbell were not belted in.