A truck fire in the parking lot adjacent to the El Vaquero restaurant in Patterson resulted in the total loss of a semi tractor trailer owned by Rowe Express LLC of Patterson. The cause is believed to have been an electrical issue with the vehicle.
Owner-operator Stanley Rowe said his truck was parked and the engine off when the vehicle caught fire. He had turned the key to auxiliary power to lower the windows and cool off the cab. While moving some clothing items from the semi he noticed something underneath the truck smoking and the vehicle caught fire soon after that.
What followed happened quickly, according to Pierce County Fire Chief Santo Niño. The emergency was called in at 2:40 p.m. and the first units to arrive were on site just ten minutes later. It took only four minutes for firefighters to deploy hoses and get the blaze under control, but by then the majority of the semi was a charred heap. After that, firefighters moved into “overhaul” mode, ensuring that the fire was fully extinguished and attempting to recover any salvageable personal belongings.
Rowe’s truck was registered to carry construction, building materials and general goods, but the trailer was empty at the time of the fire. No one was harmed by the sudden, short-lived blaze.
Stanley Rowe of Rowe Express LLC searches through the charred cab of his burnt semi.
