UPDATE:  The male driver was identified as 40-year-old Joseph Rush of Starke County.

ORIGNAL: ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind. -- The St. Joseph County Police Department was dispatched to the intersection of Kern and Fir Roads for a call of a single-vehicle crash. 

Initial reports indicated the male driver was out of the vehicle and refusing medical assistance. Shortly after, dispatch advised that the vehicle was on fire with the driver still inside.  Downed live wires on top of the vehicle made it unsafe for officers, fire crews, and medics to approach until AEP arrived and secured the scene.

Once responders were able to reach the vehicle, the driver was found to have succumbed to his injuries. He was the only occupant. Out of respect for the family, the driver’s name is being withheld until additional next of kin have been notified.

More information will be released once contact is made.