PLACERVILLE " Firefighters dousing a blaze in El Dorado County found a body in a sport utility vehicle that had tumbled about 1,000 feet down a cliff.
State fire department spokeswoman Phyllis Banducci says the SUV apparently ignited the fire after it went off a narrow, twisting road about two miles north of Placerville.
The road runs through a canyon of the American River.
California Highway Patrol Officer Mike Schultz says the vehicle and body were so badly charred that there will be a delay in identifying the driver.
The five-acre fire closed Highway 193 between Placerville and Coloma early Wednesday.
Placerville is about 90 miles southwest of Carson City.