Spared: Tragedy was Only a Spark Away

It was to be a weeklong family reunion of fun and fishing on the Oregon coast for Kent and LeAnn Sullivan and their son, Josiah. But today they’re thanking God just to be alive as the fifth wheel they were towing on the highway burst into flames! 

“Every year, about 25 to 30 of us gather for a family reunion,” says Kent, who has been serving as the Southern Idaho AG Network Ministries Coordinator for the past 13 years. “So, on Thursday, Sept. 1, we left our home in Nampa [about 20 miles southwest of Boise, Idaho] and headed up Interstate 84.” 

There was nothing unusual about the start of the trip. The couple had packed their fifth wheel like usual and with Josiah — a quadriplegic, having survived a horrific car accident years earlier — headed out. The fifth wheel was fully stocked with all the gear and clothing needed for the trip, along with Kent’s laptop and iPad and Josiah’s medical equipment, his power wheelchair, and a regular wheelchair. 

About two-and-a-half hours into their trip, when they were in the Columbia River Gorge area, Kent suddenly noticed smoke pouring from the back of the fifth wheel. Immediately pulling to the side of the narrow, four-lane highway, he quickly unhooked the truck and pulled it away to keep the family safe. He considered trying to put the fire out himself, but the fire was too intense and there was a growing danger.

“Not only were we carrying three tanks of propane fuel in the fifth wheel, we also had a fuel station with 25 gallons of gas in its garage,” Kent says. “I ran to the front door of the fifth wheel, grabbed Josiah’s regular wheelchair, which already was melting in some places, and got away as fast as I could.” Kent laughs as he explains he made the risky decision to get the wheelchair because otherwise he would have to be giving Josiah piggyback rides for the rest of the week! 

From a distance, Kent would take pictures as the fifth wheel burned. The fire was so intense that it caught brush on both sides of the highway on fire. “What was crazy to me was that cars were driving right past and through the flames of the fifth wheel as it burned,” Kent says. “If it had exploded . . . .” 

Police would arrive within minutes and block off both sides of the highway. Unfortunately, very little remained of the fifth wheel by the time the fire department arrived to douse the flames, and over the course of the next two-plus hours, they also were able to contain and put out the pair of brush fires. 

Kent says he’s not sure why the propane tanks or fuel station didn’t explode. “We could hear the propane tanks whistling as they vented somehow,” he says. “And the gas, the only thing I can think of is that maybe the heat melted the hose and the gas drained out . . . , God really protected us!” 

Following discussion with police and insurance calls, the Sullivans traveled on to Woodland, Washington, where Kent’s sister lives. Kent says they’re thankful for God’s protection. “We’re all safe and praising the Lord for that; things, they can be replaced.”

Dan Van Veen

Dan Van Veen is news editor of AG News. Prior to transitioning to AG News in 2001, Van Veen served as managing editor of AG U.S. Missions American Horizon magazine for five years. He attends Central Assembly of God in Springfield, Missouri, where he and his wife, Lori, teach preschool Sunday School and 4- and 5-year-old Rainbows boys and girls on Wednesdays.