Motorist credited for quick thinking after trailer caught fire

Firefighters with the Libby Volunteer Fire Department responded to a pup trailer fire on Wolf Creek Road last week.

Fire Chief Steve Lauer said the call came in shortly after 3 a.m. on June 29. Friction from a mechanical failure in the trailer’s axle started the blaze. After igniting the differential oil, the flames spread to the logs the driver was carrying in the pup trailer.

The driver noticed the fire and after trying to put it out with a portable fire extinguisher and a few bottles of water, he drove the trailer a short distance to a creek near the 19-mile marker. Using a lunch pail to carry water from the creek, the driver succeeded in suppressing fire.

When firefighters arrived with an engine and a tender, Lauer said there was still significant heat coming from the logs and trailer. The seven volunteers on scene used most of the 1,000 gallons in the engine to cool off the load.

Given current forest conditions, Lauer said the fire could have spread from the trailer had the driver not acted quickly.