Man Dies in RV Fire

DAYTON - Fire fighters from Columbia County Fire Districts 2 and 3 responded to a 911 call at 3:30 Satur- day morning and found a travel trailer fully engulfed in flames at the Shangri-La RV Park west of Dayton.

A man's badly-burned body was found inside the RV after the blaze was ex- tinguished. The victim was identified as 52-year-old Gary Spainhower. Spain- hower's dog also died in the blaze.

Kandi Dame, who lives in the space next to Spain- hower's with her husband and daughter, said she woke sometime after 3 a.m. "I heard popping sounds and looked over and saw flames shooting out the back," she said. Dame said the interior of Spainhower's RV was completely in flames by the time she saw it and called 911.

Dame said that a volun- teer firefighter arrived in his own vehicle within four minutes of her call. "He ran over and cut the propane line and threw the tank out of the way," she said. She also said that the first fire truck arrived about seven minutes after her call.

Shangri-La owner Gary Wilson said that Spainhower had lived at the park for four to five months. "He was an ideal park guest," Wilson said. "Never caused any trouble."

"He was a really nice man," Dame said. "My hus- band had just given him a ride the other day to get his car fixed."

Dian McClurg, public information officer for the Columbia County Sheriff's Office, said that investigators from the City of Walla Walla Fire Department inspected the scene later Saturday morning. Their preliminary findings showed no evidence of suspicious or criminal activity, she said. The fire was tentatively determined to be an accidental cooking fire, pending autopsy results.

Columbia County Prosecutor Rea Culwell, who also serves as County Coro- ner, told The Times that an autopsy has been requested, and that results are expected later this week. Until those results are released, she said, it is unknown whether Spainhower died as a result of the fire, or of some other cause prior to the fire.

Dame and Wilson said that Spainhower had been staying in the area because his mother lives in Booker Rest home in Dayton, but they had no other informa- tion on his background.