A 24-year-old Kalispell man was killed and three other people injured in a four-vehicle crash Thursday evening on Montana 82 near Somers.

The man, whose name was withheld Thursday pending the notification of family, was pronounced dead on the scene, said Flathead County sheriff's Sgt. and Deputy Coroner Lance Norman.

The crash - a head-on collision between a van and a tractor-trailer carrying apples - sparked a fire that almost consumed the truck and scorched several acres of a nearby field.

According to the Montana Highway Patrol, the tractor-trailer was eastbound on Montana 82 about 4:15 p.m. when a white van traveling westbound drifted across the center line and struck the truck head-on.

Investigators have not determined what caused the van's driver, who was killed in the wreck, to veer into oncoming traffic, said Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Lacie Alby.

After the initial impact, the eastbound tractor-trailer crossed into the oncoming lane of traffic and hit a small SUV traveling westbound behind the van. The tractor-trailer eventually stopped in the ditch on the highway's north side, where it caught fire. The SUV ended up alongside the tractor-trailer and about 150 yards east of where the van came to rest.

Flames from the burning tractor-trailer spread into a field, at one point jumping Montana 82 and igniting a field on the other side of the highway.

Debris from the initial collision struck a fourth vehicle, a Ford Taurus also traveling westbound, forcing it off the road. The Ford Taurus did not collide with any other vehicles.

The driver, who was the sole occupant of the tractor-trailer, was taken via ambulance to Kalispell Regional Medical Center with serious injuries. The driver of the SUV and a passenger, who reportedly suffered non-life-threatening injuries, were taken to the hospital by private vehicle. An older couple in the Ford Taurus were not injured, Alby said.

A portion of the van's roof was sheared off in the crash, and the vehicle was so badly crumpled that firefighters worked for more than an hour to extricate the driver's body. He was on his way home from work when the crash occurred, Norman said.

The crash closed a portion of Montana 82 for several hours while firefighters extinguished the ensuing grass fire, and authorities cleared wreckage and debris from the roadway.

The man killed in Thursday's crash is the 18th traffic fatality in Flathead County this year.

Responding to the crash were the Montana Highway Patrol, the Flathead County Sheriff's Office, the Somers Fire Department, the Bigfork Fire Department, Bigfork Ambulance, and the Smith Valley Fire Department.

Reporter Nicholas Ledden can be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at nledden@dailyinterlake.com