Fire breaks out in La Grande mobile home park

Published 1:44 pm Wednesday, November 22, 2023

A blaze engulfs a trailer at Sundowner Mobile Park off 26th Street in La Grande on Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023. 

LA GRANDE — No people were injured in an early afternoon fire Wednesday, Nov. 22, at Sundowner Mobile Home Park in La Grande, but at least one pet died and one recreational vehicle and a car were destroyed.

The fire at the mobile home part at 1806 26th St., was reported at 1:22 p.m. in a recreational vehicle. Firefighters from the La Grande and the La Grande Rural departments had the blaze out in about 10 minutes.

The RV was not occupied when the fire started and the lone person who lives in it was not at the mobile home park, said Merle Laci, the La Grande Fire Department’s deputy chief.

The owner’s dog died in the fire, Laci said, and his cat is missing.

There were two propane tanks with explosive potential in front of the RV when the fire started and they were heating up before firefighters quickly cooled them with water.

“They were venting,’’ Laci said.

The cause of the fire, Laci said, is under investigation.

Brandon Moore, a Sundowner resident, first sensed something was wrong when he heard a popping noise.

“It sounded like fireworks, then I heard sirens,’’ Moore said.

Micheal Collins said the blaze really picked up after two south facing windows in the RV blew out.

“It really took off after that,’’ Collins said. ”I could feel the heat.’’

He said he quickly got the boyfriend of his daughter to move his vehicle away from the site of the fire as a precaution.

Steven Ferry, who lives about 100 feet from the site of the fire, said he learned about the blaze when he received a call from his daughter who was at a bank north of Sundowner Mobile Home Park.

“She called to tell me she could see flames,’’ Ferry said.

He went outside and said he was dismayed to see the fire.

James Adamson, also a Sundowner resident, said he first saw flames while driving on a road south of the mobile home park.

“It looked like a burn barrel,’’ Adamson said.

He then rushed home, arriving just ahead of first responders to to discover there was a fire but his home was OK.

Marieta Gallagher, also a Sundowner resident, said the blaze terrified her because it was easy for her to empathize with it.

“I live in an RV too,” she said.

Eight firefighters from the La Grande Fire Department and eight from the La Grande Rural Fire Department responded to the blaze, which was near the on the eastern edge of La Grande.

The La Grande Police Department, the Union County Sheriff’s Office and the Oregon State Police also responded.

Laci said no other structures at the mobile home park were threatened by the blaze but one on the north side of the burning RV did sustain some heat damage’

The car essentially destroyed in the fire was owned by the RV’s occupant. Although virtually a total loss, it was able to be driven away from the RV during the blaze, Laci said.

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