Tractor-trailer wrecked by fast-moving fire

Rutland Herald

By Bryanna Allen
STAFF WRITER | July 28,2015

Photo by Christopher Thayer

Wreckage is all that remains of Jason Guimonds’ tractor-trailer after an engine fire Monday on Elbow Road in Killington.

KILLINGTON — Jason Guimonds had to leap from the cab of his tractor-trailer when the engine burst into flames.

Monday night, the Pittsford resident was driving up Elbow Road with an empty trailer to get a load of firewood when he noticed smoke beginning to pour from beneath the hood.

“One minute it was just a puff of gray smoke and the next it was fully engulfed,” Guimonds said, still a little shaky from the event.

Guimonds said once he noticed the smoke, he stopped the truck and jumped down to check it out.

He then ran back into the cab to grab his fire extinguisher — to no avail.

“I grabbed it and then realized it was too late,” he said, rubbing the singed hairs on his forearms. “By the time I grabbed it, the flames were all the way up to the trees.”

And he was right. Not only was the entire cab of the truck scorched, but so were the leaves high above.

His friend and logging partner, Brian Hier, said he heard the whole thing from farther up the road.

“I was waiting for him to bring the truck up here so we could start loading, but then I just heard banging and clattering, then heard Jason shouting,” he said.

Hier said he then ran down the hill to see his friend on the phone calling for help as the truck was devoured by flames.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” Hier said.

Neither Hier nor Guimonds said they had any idea what started the fire, and the firefighters who responded were equally without a clue.

Mark Fiore, captain of the Killington Volunteer Fire Department, said by the time they got to the scene around 5:10 p.m., there was nothing but a smoldering wreck.

“There was nothing left,” he said. “It was a quick response, but also a quick fire. The good thing is that no one was hurt.”

The Killington firefighters were accompanied by the Bridgewater Volunteer Fire Department and the Mendon Police, who said the fire is not being labeled suspicious.

And although an old truck, Guimonds said, it was his heart and soul and he had recently put money into “dolling it up.”

He and Hier stood for a while just looking at what was supposed to be the quick Monday night task of gathering firewood.

“It’s a good thing that we hadn’t loaded it with logs yet,” Hier said. “But too bad we didn’t have any hot dogs to roast.”