UPDATED-Pine Mountain Club, CA (June 26, 2015 at 2:45 p.m.)—A local woman was killed this afternoon as an RV descended the slope of Glacier Drive in the Pine Mountain community, apparently without brakes. The RV gathered momentum, witnesses said, crossed Voltaire and sailed through a telephone pole as the vehicle took flight over the cliff. The vehicle landed in a nearly unrecognizable heap against the opposite hillside, about 200 feet away. The driver, Irene Smith-Quick, 67 was killed. A boxer dog thrown out of the RV survived.

CHP, Kern County Sheriffs deputies, KCFD Station 58 and workers from Mil Potrero Water Company responded. The RV narrowly missed the propane tank to an adjacent home. At least four additional propane cannisters inside the RV were leaking loudly as neighbors responded, they reported. One neighbor who works with the water company and his roommate ran to try to deliver aid to the driver. She was deceased. He found the propane leaking, referring to them as “bombs waiting to go off.” He turned off the valve to the large propane tank adjacent to the house, then helped a  colleague from the water company confirm that the fire hydrant across the street was fully functioning.

“If there was just one spark, the whole hillside and a lot of houses could have gone up in flames,” said Wade Cadwallader.

Our condolences go out to the husband, family and friends. In consideration for the extended family, we withheld the name of the deceased until the official announcement. We will provide additional reporting in the next issue of The Mountain Enterprise.—Reported by Patric Hedlund

This is part of the June 26, 2015 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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