| Firefighters work to extinguish the fire. |
On April 28, a truck caught on fire at 800 South and Main Street in Orangeville at approximately 4 p.m. The truck being driven by Jake Mangum, an Orangeville resident noticed the bed of his truck was on fire, at that same time the rear window exploded. He pulled over to the side of the road near Randall Stilson’s property.
The truck was a total loss. The driver said he remembered passing a small red truck and thought the occupants had flipped a cigarette butt or something out the window. But, he really wasn’t sure. The materials in the back of his truck began to smolder and then ignited. He exited the vehicle and called the Emery County Sheriff’s Office.
The Castle Dale and Orangeville fire departments responded quickly to put out the flames but the truck was totaled by then. Things became even more interesting as shotgun shells began exploding from the truck bed.
Sgt. Tom Harrison reported there were no injuries at the scene. The two rear tires also exploded adding to the noise which some described as sounding like a war zone.
The Stilson’s fence was damaged by the heat of the blaze as the fence turned brown and melted. The pick-up was a 99 Dodge. The driver was alone in the vehicle at the time of the fire.