Motorhome fire blocks highway

BONNERS FERRY — Hall Mountain Fire was called out to a burning motorhome on U.S. 95, mile marker 519, on the north side of Rock Creek on June 13, just after 1 p.m. The fire resulted in the highway being shut down completely for about an hour.

Idaho Department of Lands also responded to the fire. North Bench Fire was called, but then cancelled before they arrived.

The cause of the fire was a flat tire that ignited the motorhome while it was driving.

“The occupants were unaware of the fire until another motorist brought it to their attention and directed them to the turnout on the north side of Rock Creek,” said Hall Mountain Fire Chief Brad Lowther. “All occupants exited the motor home without injuries.”

According to Lowther, the motorhome was immediately engulfed in flames, which spread to the adjacent woods, as well as the ditch line on the opposite side of the highway.

Firefighters worked quickly on the intensely-burning fire.

“It took approximately 15 minutes to knock down the motorhome fire and another 10 to 15 minutes to stop the fire spread in the woods,” said Lowther.

After the initial fight, strong winds picked up and IDL took over the wildlands fire, while Hall Mountain concentrated on cooling down the motorhome. Hall Mountain Firefighters remained on scene and aided IDL in taking care of any hot spots in the woods, leaving the scene around 4:30 p.m.

“Our folks did a great job on the multi-prong attack of both fires,” said Lowther. “We responded with three engines and one water tender and used less than 40 percent of the water that we brought to the scene.”