No one was injured in this truck fire on Sunday, August 10. Highway 61 was closed down for about an hour as the Lutsen Fire Department extinguished the fire and the truck was removed.
A Lakeshore, Minnesota family escaped injury when the vehicle they were riding in caught fire on Highway 61 at about 2 p.m. on Sunday, August 10, 2014.
William Bruce Doerr was towing an enclosed trailer with his 2012 Dodge pickup when he noticed flames in the bed of the truck. Doerr and his wife and three children got out of the truck and Doerr attempted to reach a fire extinguisher in the trailer. He was unable to do so.
Cook County Law Enforcement received a call reporting the fire and paged the Lutsen Fire Department, First Responders and Cook County Ambulance at 2:05 p.m. The Lutsen Fire Department was on scene with two trucks—a pumper and a tender—as well as a rescue and medical vehicle by 2:16 p.m. Lutsen Fire reported that the vehicle was fully engulfed.
The Fire Department was able to extinguish the fire and was clear from the scene by 3:13 p.m.
Lutsen Fire Chief Paul Goettl commended the driver and citizens at the scene. He noted that Doerr had parked completely off the highway. The oncoming traffic “stopped itself ” said Goettl and gave the fire trucks room to get to the vehicle. Highway 61 was shut down until about 3:30 p.m.
Trooper Leah Carpenter added that staff at Solbakken Resort, right across the road from where the fire took place, was also very helpful. She said they helped move the family’s trailer to safety and provided lodging for the night. Carpenter said it appeared that the trailer suffered minimal, if any, damage.
Doerr told the Lutsen Fire Department that when the family packed up from camping, they put everything in the bed of the truck, including some half-burned firewood. Apparently the firewood started smoldering, fueled by the wind as the truck traveled down the highway and caught other items in the truck on fire.
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