Motor home catches fire, explodes south of Safford

By Jon Johnson
Assistant Editor
Published on Sunday, November 1, 2009 1:49 PM MST

A 25-foot motor home caught fire and exploded Wednesday afternoon, sending a fireball into the sky that could be seen for miles.

According to Department of Public Safety Sgt. Dan Long, the driver of the motor home, Larry Jensen, 55, of Safford was headed to Willcox shortly after 2 p.m. when he thought one of his gasoline tanks emptied.

Jensen allegedly told DPS officers he pulled his 1985 Freeport motor home over to the side of the road near milepost 107 (about 13 miles south of Safford) to switch tanks and noticed a fuel line was leaking gas. At about the same time, he noticed a problem with one of his battery cables. Soon after, a spark from the cable ignited a pool of gas that had collected underneath the vehicle.

Firefighters douse the smoldering wreckage of a man's motor home Wednesday afternoon. The vehicle caught fire after a loose battery cable sparked a fuel line leak. The fire eventually caused two propane tanks to explode, thoroughly demolishing the vehicle. Photo by Jon Johnson

He attempted to drive away from the gas pool, but the fire followed the fuel and ignited the motor home. As Jensen attempted to drive away, he ended up spreading fire along the shoulder of the highway. Motorists traveling behind Jensen were able to smother the fires by scooping up sand with their hands and throwing it on the blazes. The quick-acting motorists likely prevented an even more serious situation as the wind was blowing and could easily have spread the fires, according to witnesses.

Jensen eventually gave up trying to outrun the fire after about a quarter-mile and used up three fire extinguishers in an attempt to extinguish his vehicle, according to Long. When that didn't work, he was forced to retreat to a safe distance and could do nothing but watch it burn.

Soon afterward, the fire caused the motor home's two propane tanks to explode, thoroughly demolishing the vehicle.

The Safford Fire Department arrived and extinguished what was left of the wreckage.

The situation caused Highway 191 to be closed for about 45 minutes and created a backlog of vehicles for about a quarter of a mile. Nobody was injured throughout the ordeal.

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1 comment(s)

Cheryl Layton wrote on Nov 3, 2009 7:06 AM:

" Allegedly this reporter didn't speak to this owner. If he had, he would of found out they were picking up their daughter from Kansas City, to attend a family reunion. They lost everything, bedding, clothes, camping gear, and their M/H. Larry begged for spectators to call 911, He kept beating the fire out with the only quilt he saved, then he pulled forward 3 times hoping another brush fire wouldn't start, only to have the flames ignite again. He could of been burned to death. "

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