At least two people were killed in a wrong-way collision on Highway 101 in Santa Maria late Saturday, leading to the closure of the northbound freeway at the northern edge of the city.
Santa Maria firefighters and California Highway Patrol offficers were dispatched at 11:30 p.m. to the crash scene on northbound Highway 101 near the North Broadway interchange.
The crash reportedly involved a wrong-way vehicle with the wreckage blocking the lanes under the North Broadway overpass, according to CHP emergency dispatch reports.
Both vehicles were smoking after the crash with heavy extrication required to remove some of the victims, according to emergency dispatch reports.
All three northbound lanes were blocked due to the debris and the investigation into the collision.
Authorities were diverting northbound traffic off the highway at Donovan Road. The northbound Donovan Road entrance ramp also was closed.
Early Sunday, emergency crews estimated the freeway closure could last several hours.
Additional details were not immediately available.
The collision was the second involving a wrong-way driver on Highway 101 in Santa Barbara County in less than a week.
Late on Christmas night, a Santa Barbara man was arrested after his pickup truck slammed into an oncoming minivan as he allegedly drove the wrong direction in the northbound lanes near downtown.
CHP officials say the suspect, 38-year-old Teodulo Nava Clemente, was critically injured in the wreck near the Bath Street exit ramp, as were two of the three occupants in the minivan.
Clemente has been charged with driving under the influence and causing great bodily injury to two people, having a blood-alcohol level over 0.20%, driving into oncoming traffic, driving on a suspended and revoked license, and failure to provide proof of financial responsibility for the vehicle.
He also has been charged with special allegations and enhancements, including having two DUI convictions in the county within the last 10 years.
Check back with Noozhawk for updates to this story.