RECRUITS HIT CLASSROOMS CAREER FAIR SPOTLIGHTS U.S. MILITARY.

Byline: Bhavna Mistry Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - Monday's early morning rainfall wreaked havoc on local freeways and may have played a role in a crash that killed a tow truck driver on the Antelope Valley Freeway, officials said.

The 36-year-old Littlerock man died in the 10 a.m. crash after he lost control of the truck in a downpour. The truck slid off the northbound freeway in Acton, overturned and landed on its roof.

``The roadway was wet, and for some unknown reason he allowed his vehicle to drift,'' said California Highway Patrol Officer Eddie Corugedo.

The flatbed truck crashed through a chain-link fence south of Red Rover Mine Road, rolled down a 75-foot embankment, crossed a drainage ditch and flipped, officials said.

``It was a horrendous crash,'' said Capt. Tom Quick of the Los Angeles County County Fire Department. ``There was nothing we could do to get to him.''

The driver was trapped after the flatbed separated from its frame and demolished the cab in the crash.

Firefighters cleared away brush with chain saws and then used special equipment, including heavy-duty rubber air bags, to lift up the cab slowly and free the trapped man, pronounced dead at the scene. Quick said the man, whose name was not disclosed pending notification of his family, apparently was not wearing a seat belt.

The driver is the second man employed by High Desert Towing of Littlerock to die in recent months on the same stretch of freeway.

Benjamin Chaves, 26, was killed Dec. 10 in Agua Dulce while he was changing a tire for a stranded motorist. A car hit him and also killed the motorist, Vanessa Rockwood, 23, of Agua Dulce.

Traffic slowed, and there were numerous minor traffic collisions on the Golden State and Antelope Valley freeways during the brief rain Monday morning.

``We had at least a 50 percent increase just from the light rain we had,'' said CHP Sgt. Andrew Hernandez. ``People weren't anticipating the roads to be as slippery, and they (were) not adjusting their speed.''

Rainfall totaled less than one-tenth of an inch for the Santa Clarita Valley and Antelope Valley areas, according to preliminary figures from the National Weather Service.

``It a little bit late in the year to be getting rain,'' said David Sweet, a National Weather Service meteorologist. ``It just happens sometimes.''

Sweet said that an unseasonal storm out of the Gulf of Alaska brought the scattered showers.

Meteorologists forecast mostly sunny skies today, with highs in the mid 60s. No more rain is expected for the remainder of the week.

Firefighters said the rain was good for the 5,000 acres that burned last week in the Bouquet Canyon area.

``The rains helped cool off some of the hot spots. ... There will be some places that will green up, and (it will) even help stimulate some roots growing and promote rehabilitation,'' said U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Kathy Peterson.

Heavier rains expected this fall, however, are already starting to cause concern.

``If it will continue to rain, we will have serious mud problems - that's a definite,'' Hernandez said. ``We'll have a great possibility for mudslides.''

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Firefighters work to free a tow truck driver Monday after his vehicle went over the side of the Antelope Valley Freeway and overturned. The driver suffered fatal injuries.

(2 -- color) Rescuers had to deploy heavy-duty rubber air bags to lift the cab of the tow truck that went over the side of the Antelope Valley Freeway.

(3 -- color) A California Highway Patrol officer examines the tires of a tow truck that crashed Monday.

John Lazar/Staff Photographer