Lars Ewing, who had just resigned as Lake County's Public Works Director, died Friday morning when his 1995 Honda crossed into oncoming lanes on State Route 20 in Colusa County and slammed into another vehicle. He was 49 and lived in Lakeport. The crash happened around 8 a.m. on westbound Highway 20 east of Lone Star Road, and both vehicles caught fire, blocking all lanes of the highway.
The timing has drawn scrutiny alongside the tragedy itself. Ewing's voluntary resignation was reported Thursday, with official county releases offering no explicit reason for the sudden departure, according to KWINE. Less than 24 hours later, Ewing was dead. The California Highway Patrol reported that Ewing's Honda crossed into the eastbound lanes and crashed into an oncoming vehicle, as detailed by CBS Sacramento. The driver of the other vehicle suffered moderate injuries, and the Lake County Sheriff's Office confirmed the Honda's driver was Ewing.
Fire and Hazmat Response Shut Down the Highway
California Highway Patrol incident records show the crash near Lone Star Road at 8:04 a.m. Friday involved intense vehicle fires that blocked the highway. Separate reports from the scene indicated the vehicle Ewing's Honda struck was a 2024 International semi-truck, according to the California Injury Accident Lawyer account of the wreck. Primary traffic enforcement and collision investigation on that stretch of Highway 20 fall under the California Highway Patrol Williams Area office, which covers 800 miles of state routes and local roads across 1,151 square miles of Colusa County's agricultural valley.
What caused Ewing's vehicle to drift into oncoming traffic remains unclear, and the final findings of the CHP Williams Area investigation are still pending, per CBS Sacramento's reporting on the incident. A separate head-on collision near King Road was reported, according to the Redheaded Blackbelt. Caltrans District 3 has discussed safety planning along State Route 20.
A Rapid Rise Through Lake County Government
Ewing was a licensed civil engineer and a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy. He had served in a leadership role for nearly a year before the Lake County Board of Supervisors permanently appointed him to lead the newly combined Public Works and Public Services Department on April 28, 2026, as previously reported by KWINE. That appointment put Ewing in charge of a sweeping portfolio of county infrastructure.
Ewing worked on public works and infrastructure matters. A filing concerns Cobb Community Park, while a separate source mentions a state grant.
County Now Scrambles to Fill the Vacancy
Ewing's sudden resignation and death came after he had only recently been confirmed to lead the department on a permanent basis.
