Truck bursts into flames after being pulled over for inspection

ST. GEORGE – A truck burst into flames Wednesday morning shortly after being pulled over for a safety inspection.

A Chevy pickup truck pulling a small construction trailer is heavily damaged by fire Wednesday morning on state Route 18, St. George, Utah, Nov. 23, 2016 | Photo by Mike Cole, St. George News
A Chevy pickup truck pulling a small construction trailer is heavily damaged by fire Wednesday morning on state Route 18, St. George, Utah, Nov. 23, 2016 | Photo by Mike Cole, St. George News

A Chevy pickup truck pulling a small construction trailer was traveling north on state Route 18 near mile marker 7 at about 8:30 a.m.

A Utah Highway Patrol trooper pulled the vehicle over for a commercial inspection.

During the stop, the trooper and the vehicle’s three male occupants noticed smoke coming from the steering column and then from under the hood.

The St. George Fire Department was paged to respond to the incident.

“The trooper on scene said there was (sic) flames visible coming from the engine compartment,” St. George Fire Department Capt. David Slack said.

“When we arrived on scene, the cab and the engine compartment were fully engulfed.”

Winchester Hills Fire Department was called out to help, Slack said.

“We were able to get it extinguished pretty quick and save most of their equipment on their vehicle,” Slack said.

St. George Police Department, St. George Fire Department, Utah Highway Patrol and Winchester Hills Fire Department responded to the incident.

This report is based on preliminary information provided by law enforcement or other emergency responders and may not contain the full scope of findings.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2016, all rights reserved.

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6 Comments

  • hiker75 November 23, 2016 at 1:39 pm

    Did it pass or fail the safety inspection?

    • wilbur November 23, 2016 at 1:50 pm

      looks like a fail to me

  • .... November 23, 2016 at 8:13 pm

    This is absolutely devastating to the owner that uses the vehicle for their daily business use. but the vehicle can be replaced and the most important thing here is that there was no loss of life. Praise Jesus !

  • knobe November 23, 2016 at 9:00 pm

    Excellent photos of the scene . . . good job !

  • old school November 23, 2016 at 9:52 pm

    Kudos to UHP, I watch unsafe commercial vehicles speeding up and down Brigham RD everyday, some without tags! Glad to see you cracking down, no one’s above the law.

    • ladybugavenger November 24, 2016 at 8:24 am

      (except Hillary)

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