Motor home on fire blocks traffic in both directions on Cheat Mountain
Trending
CHEAT MOUNTAIN -- A motor home on fire blocked traffic in both directions on Cheat Mountain recently, with the flames so intense that liquefied petroleum gas tanks on the vehicle exploded, creating a brush fire along the road.
The incident took place on July 12, on Route 250 South "nearly halfway up Cheat Mountain," according to a press release from Randolph County Sheriff Rob Elbon. The Huttonsville-Mill Creek Volunteer Fire Department and Randolph EMS also were dispatched to the scene.
Upon arrival, Elbon and Cpl. D.R. Wolford of the West Virginia State Police saw "a late model camper fully engulfed in flames," and fire department personnel trying to put the fire out, according to the release.
"The flames were so intense that the LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) tanks one by one exploded and flew from the vehicle, creating a brush fire alongside the roadway," the release states, noting that fire personnel contained and extinguished the brush fire.The Tygart Valley Fire Company was dispatched to roll another pumper for additional water to fight the fires, the release adds.
The motorhome "continued to burn until fire fighters applied fire suppression foam and smothered out the flames," the release states. Once extinguished, the vehicle was loaded with a skid-steer and hauled away by a lowboy trailer. Varner's Towing of Durbin took away the wreckage.
The incident led to traffic being stopped in both directions on US 250, as fire hoses and equipment had both lanes blocked, according to the release.
While traffic was blocked, officials learned of a woman who was being transported by a personal vehicle due to a medical emergency. Randolph EMS personnel transported the woman to be treated for "a possible ruptured spleen," the release states.