A deputy with the Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office was patrolling Dolores when he saw a burning 1977 Winnebago.
The RV was traveling west on Highway 145 when it jumped the curb at Fifth and Railroad and hit a gold 1997 Honda Accord and then a stop sign and a power pole.
According to a report, filed by Deputy Estevan Valles, the driver of the RV was Bevin Protas. The 30-year-old driver told the deputy she was driving the RV back to Monticello, Utah, when the engine compartment caught fire. She tried to stop, but the brakes were not responding. She told the deputy that she tried to put the RV into park but the shifter would not engage.
“The cab filled with smoke and she lost vision of the road but tried to continue to stop the RV while her foot was being burned by the fire, which was now in the cab,” the report stated.
That is when the RV jumped the curb.
Protas’ boyfriend was following her in another vehicle and helped get the driver of the Accord out and to safety.
Protas’ boyfriend took her to Southwest Memorial Hospital, where she was treated and released for second-degree burns.
The 50-year-old driver of the Accord was treated for a broken collar bone, multiple lacerations and bruised ribs, according to the report.
Deputy Valles tried to put out the flames with fire extinguishers from the Giant Gas Station across the street when the power pole caught fire.
The Dolores Fire Department arrived and extinguished both vehicle fires.
