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Crews respond to vehicle fire, spill By
LETA NOLAN CHILDERS It’s what the members of the department train for and what they do on a daily basis. They never quite know what they’re going to encounter until they arrive at their destination. On Tuesday, a fire that destroyed an Eagle Butte woman’s vehicle proved a problem from beginning to end. According to Hughes County Deputy Sheriff Joseph Harmon’s report on the incident, Hapistinna Horne was driving toward Pierre on U.S. Highway 14 near mile marker 225, when she noticed a “hot” smell in her vehicle and watched the temperature gauge go into the overheat range. Horne pulled her vehicle to a stop--in the middle of the road--and she and her companions jumped out of the vehicle. Within minutes, the van was fully engulfed in fire. The Hughes County Rural Fire Department crew was called out to fight the fire about 15 miles east of Pierre, according to Pierre Fire Chief Greg Baker. Once they arrived at the scene, they extinguished the fire, but the vehicle was already a total loss. Harmon then attempted to get someone to the scene to tow the vehicle from obstructing traffic. A call to H&H Towing brought the suggestion that he call Johnny’s Towing. The flatbed needed to transport the burned chassis wasn’t working, so Harmon was instructed to call Wegner Auto. Once Wegner’s arrived on the scene, they said that they wouldn’t be able to tow it either. AAA Towing was then contacted, but they advised they weren’t able to do it and suggested Pierre Auto. Pierre Auto didn’t answer their phone, according to the report. Finally, Wegner Auto, which was already on the scene, assisted in pulling the vehicle off the road and into the ditch. They said they would return on Wednesday with hopes of towing the remains of the vehicle to Pierre. On Wednesday, the department was called to a different kind of situation when contractors installing new gasoline pumps at Shel’s Quick Stop accidentally released about 10 gallons of gas. The strong smell of the spill could be experienced a couple of blocks away from the site. “We were called to the site to clean the contaminated cement,” said Baker. “The property owner than contracted for the removal of the hazardous material.”
For more information about the Pierre Fire |
