SUN Staff Report
4/9/09
A camper trailer burned on Pedernal Drive in Medanales Sunday, injuring an occupant and unleashing a hail of bullets as boxes of ammunition burned, Rio Arriba County Fire Marshal Jerome Sanchez said.
“We heard bullets firing,” Sanchez said. “He had a lot of ammo in there. A lot of people do.”
No one was injured by the flying bullets but the motor home’s owner, Charles Lafleur, 45, suffered burns and was transported to Española Hospital and then Albuquerque for treatment, Sanchez said.
“The call went out at 11 a.m.,” Abiquiú Volunteer Fire Department Chief Paulette Jordan said. “Dispatch paged El Rito but I heard it on the radio and called dispatch to ask why they hadn’t paged us. They said they had, but none of us heard any page.”
Fifteen firefighters from the Abiquiú and El Rito fire departments fought the fire for three hours, Jordan said.
Rio Arriba Sheriff’s Det. Adam Archuleta said it was believed the fire started because of a wood stove inside the trailer, but Lafleur gave his neighbor Daniel Kelly a different explanation.
“I said, ‘Chuck, how did this happen?,'” Kelly said. “He said, ‘It was really stupid, I knew there was a small fire in the sofa and I thought I would just let it go out by itself.’”
Kelly said Lafleur’s hair and hands were burned.
“He had a long ponytail, that was gone and his head was pretty well singed of hair,” Kelly said. “When I got there his hair was still smoking.”
State Fire Marshall Investigator Joe Chavez could not be reached for comment.