Early morning Petrolia minivan crash into tree sends one patient by medivac

“Petrolia Fire was toned out to a motor vehicle accident in the 1500 block of Lighthouse Road,” Petrolia Fire Chief Chris Gilda said, describing the early-morning response outside Petrolia that left two people with head wounds. The single-vehicle crash occurred on Lighthouse Road near Mill Creek Road, and California Highway Patrol logs place the incident at about 3:19 a.m. on Feb. 19, 2026.

CHP later reported the Honda Odyssey minivan sustained major front-end damage after leaving the roadway and striking a tree. Firefighters responding to the scene learned the injured occupants had walked to a nearby residence, and crews located two patients there with head wounds, according to local accounts of the response.

An initial request for a civilian air ambulance was declined because of weather. “I requested the Coast Guard,” Gilda told reporters. “They accepted and flew a patient from Petrolia to St Joe’s.” Images credited to Chief Chris Gilda show emergency personnel transferring a patient from City Ambulance to the Coast Guard helicopter for the medevac pickup in Petrolia.

The second injured person was transported by ground ambulance to a medical facility, local responders said. After the transfer and medevac, volunteers returned to the Petrolia Fire station to clean and restock equipment before becoming available for the next call.

Gilda also noted an added complication during the response: “I guess one more piece to add into it is, during this whole scene, the power went out,” he said. With scene operations complicated by the outage, crews worked until roughly 5 a.m., when Gilda said the incident was cleared.

California Highway Patrol logs supplied the timing and vehicle-damage details; no patient names, ages, or updated medical conditions have been released. CHP has not provided a cause for the crash in the logs cited, and officials have not reported citations or arrests related to the collision. The Coast Guard medevac destination was identified in Gilda’s statement as St Joe’s.