MOUNT GRAHAM – A Morenci couple avoided an even worse consequence after fortuitously coming upon a Graham County Sheriff’s deputy on Mount Graham just as their truck caught fire.
According to a Sheriff’s Office report, the deputy was roughly two miles above the Noon Creek campground on an unrelated welfare check call at about 10:11 p.m. on Friday, July 8 when he noticed a pickup truck coming up the mountain behind him.
Before the truck reached the deputy, however, the driver pulled it over to the shoulder and a man and woman exited the vehicle. At that time, the deputy noticed the bottom of the truck was on fire.
The officer didn’t have a fire extinguisher on him but he did have a shovel. After calling for the Safford Fire Department, the officer began shoveling dirt onto the fire as the male occupant poured water on it from above the engine compartment. Working together, they managed to put the fire out and the call for the fire department was canceled.
The truck was disabled, however, so the officer called for a tow. Magnum Towing removed the truck from the mountain and took it and the occupants back to their residence in Morenci.
