Investigators say they believe a man in his 20s was driving too fast in slick conditions when he crashed into a tree, leaving him dead after the car became engulfed in flames near Harvard.
The Hebron-Alden-Greenwood Fire Protection District and McHenry County Sheriff’s Office responded around 5:01 p.m. Wednesday to the area of Route 173 and Oak Grove Road in unincorporated Harvard for a report of a vehicle crash with injuries and fire.
A 911 caller reported a car had crashed into a tree, caught fire and they believed someone was still inside the vehicle.
Hebron-Alden-Greenwood Fire Protection District Chief Thomas Linneman said firefighters arrived and found a vehicle fully engulfed in flames.
The vehicle had crashed into a tree, causing heavy damage, Linneman said.
Firefighters extinguished the fire and found one occupant inside the car who was deceased, Linneman said.
No other patients were found at the scene, which occurred just west of Oak Grove Road in the 17000 block of Route 173.
A preliminary investigation showed the 2023 Nissan Rogue was traveling westbound on Route 173 when it left the roadway to the north and struck the tree, the sheriff’s office said.
The vehicle caught fire and became fully engulfed with the driver, a 29-year-old Harvard man, still inside, the sheriff’s office said.
Sheriff’s officials said the driver was the sole occupant of the Nissan.
Investigators believe speed and weather conditions are factors in the cause of the crash.
The McHenry County Coroner’s Office was notified and responded and the fire department cleared the scene, turning it over to the sheriff’s office and the coroner’s office for investigation, Linneman said.
Sheriff’s deputies shut down Route 173 between Nolan Road and Oak Grove Road for several hours during the investigation.
The coroner’s office has not released the identity of the 29-year-old man as of Friday.
The crash remains under investigation by the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office Major Crash Investigation Unit and the McHenry County Coroner’s Office.