Republican-Clipper photos,
Phil Conger, Angela Ragan
Charred veggies: Firemen douse flames in a trailer filled with vegetables that was destroyed by fire early Thursday morning at Bethany Peterbilt. An independent truck driver from McFall had parked overnight in the Peterbilt lot waiting for the shop to open to make repairs on his truck. The driver was asleep in the cab when the fire broke out at about 3 a.m. Fire Chief Jacob Denum said he was told by the driver that he woke up when he heard a crackling noise coming from behind his tractor. He escaped from the cab without injury and called 911.
The firemen arrived on the scene at about 3:30 a.m. and spent about three hours at the scene, according to Denum. The firemen returned a couple of hours later to pour water into the trailer to finish extinguishing the fire. The load of bell peppers and tomatoes was on its way to the Des Moines area.