SAN JACINTO: Man uninjured after RV, vehicle destroyed by fire
SAN JACINTO — A man and his pets were displaced by a fire that destroyed an RV and sedan at an RV park earlier this evening. The fast-moving blaze erupted on the outskirts of San Jacinto, at Reflection Lake RV Park and Fishing Campground. The RV park sits southeast of Cottonwood Ave. and Warren Rd.
Smoke and flames could reportedly be seen for miles in all directions and the single fire generated countless 911 calls and fire reports from firework-wary area residents.
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Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire, San Jacinto Police Department, and other emergency first responders were dispatched to the RV park at 6:52 p.m., after receiving reports of a structure fire involving an RV and vehicle.
When firefighters and sheriff’s deputies arrived they found a motor home and sedan fully engulfed in flames. Officials reported that the growing fire was threatening other motor homes, vehicles, and outbuildings and that ammunition inside the burning RV was hampering firefighter’s efforts to knock down the blaze.
A man is reunited with one of his pets after his motor home and sedan were destroyed by fire. Robert Carter/Public Safety Incidents photo
Based on the circumstances, a battalion commander at the scene requested Cal Fire and Hemet Fire Department rush five additional engine companies to the scene.
While firefighters battled the blaze, firefighter/paramedics and AMR medics treated the resident from the burning RV, who had suffered smoke inhalation while trying to extinguish the blaze and save his pets, described as a bulldog and several kitten, from the fire.
Although none of the man’s pets could be found immediately after the fire, the victim later shared a tearful reunion with two of his four pets after he found his terrified dog hiding under a nearby wood pile and a neighbor found and returned one of the man’s kitten to him.
The search for the man’s two other kittens is ongoing.
The victim later explained to a Cal Fire Arson Investigator and other officials that he first became aware of the fire when he noticed smoke coming behind a TV inside the RV just moments before the fire erupted.
Red Cross personnel were requested to the scene to assist the displaced victim and his pets.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation and officials have not yet released any information regarding the blaze or their investigation.
Will Whelan/Hemet Valley Incidents video
Contact the writer: [email protected]
Trevor Montgomery, 46, recently moved to Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for several other news organizations, including Riverside County based newspapers, Valley News, The Valley Chronicle and Anza Valley Outlook, as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County and The Mountain Echo in Shasta County.
Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)
During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center and Lake Elsinore Station, along with other locations.
Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.
Trevor has been married for more than 27 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and has 13 children and 14 – soon to be 15 – grandchildren.