Contributed Photo/Courtesy GCSO: Residents believe a portable propane heater was to blame for a box truck and trailer fire late last Thursday night.
By Jon Johnson
GRAHAM COUNTY – A propane heater was fingered as the cause of a fire south of Safford late Thursday night.
According to a Graham County Sheriff’s Office report, deputies and firefighters were dispatched at about 11 p.m. to an address on S. Cheyenne Drive regarding a box truck and a trailer residence both engulfed in flames.
Upon arrival, the initial deputy confirmed all the residents were away from the fire and uninjured.
The resident of the box truck said she was sleeping and woke up to a fire in the truck, the report stated. She said a propane heater was being used for warmth and that there was no electricity on the property. After being evaluated by paramedics at the scene she was medically cleared.
A second property resident was at a nearby neighbor’s house when he saw the fire. He also advised about using a portable propane heater close to the bed, believing it might have caused the fire. Safford Fire Chief Clark Bingham told the Gila Herald that everything was destroyed to such a point that he just has to go off what the residents said.
The Safford Fire Department sent two engines and a tanker and firefighters extinguished the flames using water with foam for mop up but the box truck and trailer were total losses and the resident advised she had no insurance. Firefighters were on the scene until about 1:30 a.m. and weren’t home until 2:30 a.m.
