SUV bursts into flames on Highway 112
Published 12:01 am Tuesday, November 12, 2013
JOYCE — A vehicle fire blocked the eastbound lane of state Highway 112 near Joyce for about two hours Monday.
The State Patrol said the driver, Carlos Wall, 85, of Clallam Bay, was not injured. There were no other occupants in the SUV.
“The car was a total loss,” said Trooper Russ Winger, State Patrol spokesman.
The state Department of Transportation closed both lanes at Milepost 48 near Gossett Road at 10:55 a.m.
The road reopened to single-lane, alternating traffic 11:18 a.m. Both lanes were open by 12:57 p.m., Transportation officials said.
“They were alternating traffic after they got the fire out,” Winger said. “It created some stir there for a couple hours.”
Winger did not know what caused the fire in the Chevrolet Blazer.
A witness, Zach Zenobi, was at home when he heard a riflelike sound at about 10:20 a.m. and saw flames and smoke coming from the end of his driveway.
He grabbed a fire extinguisher and rushed outside with his brother, Mitch Zenobi, to make sure the driver was out of the vehicle.
“We didn’t see anybody around,” Zach Zenobi said.
Flames had grown to about 15 feet in height high when the battery exploded in a “big boom.”
“The heat was intense,” Zenobi said.
The fire was extinguished by Clallam County Fire District No. 4.
