Overheated brakes suspected after SR-299E hay-hauler blaze

October 26, 2019 Trevor Montgomery

ROUND MOUNTAIN — No injuries were reported after the load of a tractor-trailer combo pulling hay went up in flames early Friday morning, Oct. 25. Yesterday morning’s blaze happened near MM35.70 on SR-299E near Round Mountain.

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CHP and Shasta-Cal Fire were alerted to the blaze shortly before 2:50 a.m., after receiving reports that a semi-truck hauling hay had caught fire, according to a CHP incident log. Initial reports from the scene indicated the fire had possibly started when the westbound big-rig’s brakes over-heated, igniting the trailer’s load of hay bales.

After realizing their load had caught fire, the truck driver managed to pull over to the right side of the road and detach the trailer with its burning bales of hay from the semi-truck, which was soon fully engulfed in fire, according to CHP.

Fire personnel extinguished the blaze and around 3:11 a.m. requested assistance from Cal Trans to break apart the remaining hay bales so they could be removed from the scene.

No injuries were reported and due to the early morning hour of the fire, the incident did not cause any serious delays in travel times; although some delays were reported due to all the roadside police and fire activity.

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Trevor Montgomery, 48, moved last year to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes or has written for several other news organizations; including Riverside County based newspapers, Valley News, (the now defunct) Valley Chronicle, Anza Valley Outlook, and Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle; as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County and 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 29 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 15 – but soon to be 16 – grandchildren.