Motor home traveling up mountain burns

By Jon Johnson
Assistant Editor
Published on Sunday, June 21, 2009 12:57 PM MST

A motor home traveling up Mount Graham overheated and caught fire Thursday, and caused 2 acres of land to burn.

The Safford Fire Department was paged to the scene at milepost 119.9, approximately one mile below Noon Creek on Swift Trail, at about 11:30 a.m., according to Safford Fire Chief Mike Rhodes.

The motor home was driven by Lewis St. Hillaire and contained one passenger, Daniel Leroy Flowers, according to Department of Public Safety officer Brad Smith. Neither man required medical assistance.

Rhodes said the motor home apparently overheated, and that caused the motor to go out. St. Hillaire then guided the motor home backward into a ditch, and it quickly became engulfed in flames and burned to the ground. The fire spread to the grass and other brush in the area.

"It completely burned down," Smith said. "There was nothing but a frame left."

The fire had grown to encompass about an acre when the Safford Fire Department arrived and began containment efforts. Fire crews from the United States Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management arrived soon after and took control of the scene, according to Rhodes.

The Safford Fire Department went to the call as a first responder, but because the fire was on Forest Service land, the SFD broke free from the situation when Forest Service crews showed up. Rhodes said two single-engine airtankers stationed at the Safford Regional Airport were called and made several slurry drops over the fire. He said his crew returned at about 2 p.m., but the Forest Service was still contending with some flames at that time.

The Courier spoke Friday morning with Buddy Zale, a fire management officer with the Forest Service, and he confirmed earlier statements by Chief Rhodes.

Zale said the fire spread to a 2-acre encroachment, but it was not severe and the fire crews were able to suppress it. A Forest Service crew is still "mopping things up," according to Zale, and should be finished by 6 p.m.

In addition to the Safford Fire Department and the two airtankers stationed at the airport, the BLM had a fire engine and the Forest Service had two fire engines on scene.

Nuttalls Towing removed the motor home from the scene.

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Comments

3 comment(s)

Elesia wrote on Jul 17, 2009 1:12 PM:

" That was my grandpa! I am so glad he wasn't hurt! We love you Grandpa! "

The Dude wrote on Jun 21, 2009 9:42 PM:

" The comments aren't gone. The previous comments were on the breaking news story at the top, and they are still there. "

dude wrote on Jun 21, 2009 4:35 PM:

" How funny that all of the comments are suddenly gone! Hmmmm.. "

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