Cause undetermined in Saturday afternoon blaze

TRAILER DEMOLISHED Firefighter Dustin White is backed up by Emilio Barrientes as he seeks to extinguish the final embers of a fire that destroyed a fifth-wheel type travel trailer Saturday afternoon at 1211 South 5th Street. Edd Cox lived in the trailer, which was owned by Virginia Lopez. (Russel Skiles/Press-Reporter)

No cause has been determined for a Saturday afternoon blaze that destroyed a travel trailer being used as a residence by a Lamesa man.

An adjacent camper also was damaged in the fire, which was reported at 2:42 p.m. at 1211 South 5th Street, in a secluded part of Sulfur Springs Draw just west of Jefferson Park.

The 26-foot, fifth-wheel trailer was fully engulfed in flames, and the smaller camper also was ablaze, when firefighters arrived at the scene, according to the fire department report.

Thick black smoke rising from the fire could be seen from several miles outside Lamesa.

In addition to the flames, firefighters quickly identified two major hazards when they arrived. Several small propane bottles outside the trailers were immediately cooled with water or pulled away from the flames, and firefighters carefully avoided a downed electrical wire until an Oncor representative arrived and disconnected the line.

Fourteen firefighters with two pumper trucks used about 6,000 gallons of water to extinguish the blaze.


(See complete story in printed edition of Lamesa Press-Reporter on newsstands now.)