PHILLIPS – The town’s already diminished fleet of winter maintenance vehicles took another hit Wednesday morning, after a quick-moving vehicle fire destroyed a plow truck on the East Madrid Road.
According to Town Manager Elaine Hubbard, operator Matt Stevens was sanding the East Madrid Road in a 2010 International at approximately 9 a.m. Wednesday morning when flames started shooting from beneath the hood. Stevens, a volunteer firefighter in Strong, brought the vehicle to a stop and immediately got out, with the blaze swiftly consuming the vehicle.
The truck, one of three currently operating in Phillips, was deemed a total loss. Typically, the town runs four trucks, with another spare vehicle, according to Hubbard, so the fire leaves the town scrambling ahead of another week of projected snowstorms.
“Our guys will do the best they can,” Hubbard said, adding she had been calling around to try and arrange temporary coverage.
Primarily, the town manager said, she and other officials were grateful that Stevens’ quick work in bringing the vehicle to a stop prevented the incident from being even more serious. “I’m grateful that Matt got out of the truck uninjured,” she said.
Plow truck fires are not unknown to Franklin County. In 2012, the cab and chassis of Farmington’s 2004 Sterling plow truck burned as the operator was clearing a road after a snowstorm. In that case, the suspected culprit was a ruptured transmission line which sprayed part of the engine with fluid, sparking the fire.
Phillips’ truck was insured, Hubbard said, with the insurance adjuster expected to examine the truck soon. In the meantime, town officials asked that residents be patient with the town as it works to maintain local roads with two trucks.
Farmington, farmington, farmington. Everything on this FRANKLIN COUNTY NEWS site always includes farmington I’m sick of hearing about it. Theres other towns around.
Wow backdraft…you must have gotten up on the wrong side of bed this morning!
Boy Backdraft, I did not realize Phillips was another Farmington location. I thought it was its own town?
Cause Farmington is the capital of franklin county
Huh?, there was a reference to a Farmington fire. What amazes me is they seem to think the operator/firefighter was a hero in a dangerous situation while stopping a crawling truck and opening the door. Diesel powered trucks don’t just blow up like in the movies.
time to switch decaf ol-boy
I’m a little surprised that some of these comments made it past the moderators considering some of the comments I’ve had rejected on other stories. Maybe they’ve just blocked me entirely???
Don’t see much for controversy here- Glad driver got out OK, and I for one, think these guys do one heck of a job with the equipment they have and I appreciate their hard work.