A single-vehicle crash after dark in the western Twin Cities has left a 45-year-old man dead, authorities said Tuesday.

The wreck occurred shortly after 10 p.m. Monday just east of French Lake in Dayton, said Police Chief Paul Enga.

Enga said the vehicle was heading west on 125th Avenue toward a sharp turn onto French Lake Road, where it struck two mailboxes, landscape blocks and a tree.

A resident who heard the crash came out and extinguished a fire in the wreckage before emergency responders arrived, the chief added. The driver was dead at the scene.

The victim's identity has yet to be released.

Paul Walsh