Article and Photos by Malia Dietz
- Fire Reported on Thursday at 1:25pm
- Man was working on vehicle
- Vehicle caught fire
- Fire Crews helped man Extinguished fire with snow
On March 14th, 2019 at 1:25 pm, a call went into 911 dispatch reporting a structure fire in the 2300 block of Erwin Ranch Road in Erwin Lake. This small community is located on the East end of the Big Bear Valley off of Highway 38 in an unincorporated area of San Bernardino County.
A San Bernardino County Sheriff deputy arrived on scene first. He could be heard repeatedly shouting, “This is the Sheriff’s Department! Is anyone inside?” as he checked the exterior of the structure.
The deputy was close to making his way around the entire structure when the Big Bear Fire Deptartment arrived on scene.
This reporter, advised the Fire Department officials as to where the smoke was coming from and firefighters made access to the area. They found a gentleman, who had been working on his vehicle, packing the engine compartment with snow by hand.
The reason that the engine caught fire is unknown at this time. The man suffered minor injuries during the incident. The fire department quickly added more snow to the area of the vehicle where smoke was showing and knocked it down.
The unidentified man was transported to a nearby medical facility for treatment. The cause of this fire is unknown and at this time, there was no damage to the residence or the shed where the vehicle was located.