At 4:44p.m. on Saturday, January 10th, Douglas County Fire District No.2 firefighters were dispatched to a reported loud explosion in the area of 1095 Flournoy Valley Road, in the Melrose area. At 4:51p.m. Firefighters arrived at the scene and encountered a 29 foot motor home with flames and heavy black smoke coming from the rear of the vehicle. Firefighters confirmed that all occupants had exited the RV then proceeded to use a mixture of water and foam to extinguish the fire and cool the burning tires. Firefighters had to remove the metal siding on both sides of the motor home to access embers that were still hot and smoldering.
The owner of the motor home was moving it from the Burnt Mountain area to the Umpqua area. His wife was following behind him in her can when she noticed smoke coming from the rear tires “about half way down Burnt Mountain”. She radioed her husband and they stopped to allow the brakes to cool down, then they continued down the mountain. The owner estimated they drove about 40 more miles when he noticed both sets of his rear tires were on fire.
Fire investigators determined that the fire started because the brakes were not releasing, which caught the tires and the wheel housing area on fire.
The owner states the motor home was insured, and nobody was injured in the incident.
DCFD2 responded to this incident with 2 fire engines, 1 water tender, and four firefighters. Roseburg Towing was called to remove the motor home from the roadway.