Inyo County Sheriff’s Dispatch received notification of an RV on fire in the Shoshone RV Park about 5 p.m. Tuesday.
According to the reporting party, the owners of the RV noticed smoke coming out of the circuit breaker area of their RV. The fire advanced so fast that there was no time to move the truck that they were towing with the RV, the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
High winds sent embers blowing in multiple areas, igniting palm trees as well as the lawn of a private property owner; the fire quickly began moving south toward the more populated areas of town.
Swift thinking from the private property owner whose lawn caught fire prompted him to turn on his sprinkler system, which ultimately stopped the fire from advancing toward the Shoshone Motel and Shoshone Chevron as well as other nearby structures.
There were no injuries reported, and no structures burned, only brush to the west of the RV park and brush and palm trees to the south of the RV park. Approximately five to six acres burned in total. The RV and pickup truck towed by the RV was a complete loss.
The sheriff’s department requested assistance initially from Southern Inyo Fire out of Tecopa. A mutual aid request was also initiated for Pahrump Valley Fire, Death Valley National Park Service, and Cal Fire. CHP, Caltrans and Inyo County Road Department all assisted in closing off Highway 127 during the fire.
“Thank you to all agencies for their assistance and quick response,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.