Last night around 11 pm Meadview resident Camille McDowell’s mobile home on Bishop burned to the ground and she did not get out.
Camille worked at the Canyon’s End Restaurant & Motel where we often have our Gardening Club meetings. A few months ago we discussed the need for a non profit to help residents with setting up living trusts and living wills. I know how to do it, but my software is 10 years old and we talked about updating the software and setting up trusts for free to gardening club members. So I had a note with Camille’s phone number and I was supposed to call her once I updated my software, but I’ve been too busy planting fruit trees to worry about living trusts. Just last weekend I talked with Camille at the restaurant. It’s so shocking, hard to believe she’s gone.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation. I heard that a firetruck came from Dolan Springs, that there was one water truck, that they didn’t know where to get more water and that no ambulance was at the scene. I’ll still have to confirm this with the LMRFD and I have some questions.
Everybody PLEASE make sure that you have working smoke detectors in your house!
RIP Camille!
3/24/16: I deleted this comment after numerous rather odd requests (see below) for deletion. So here’s what the Miner had to say on the 20th:
And the Miner 3/22/16 update:
So maybe that’s what really happened. I would have much preferred to write about the fire board hearing last Monday so that we can AVOID such tragedies.
Interestingly, nobody even mentioned this deadly fire at the meeting and only very few people attended. Oh well …
Judy this post is full of wrong information and also.I dont think grandma wamted that email posted publicly
Let us request the it be removed. Please who ever has the ability, remove that letter from Camille’s mom. Thanks so much.
Why didn’t the Meadview Fire Department Respond?
There is NO Meadview fire dep
Actually, there IS a fire station and today was the fire board meeting. I announced it here at http://highdesertdirt.com/blog/2016/03/20/monday-3-21-fire-board-meeting-in-dolan-springs/ and I thought that there’d be a number of Meadview residents attending, but not so. I’ll post more details in a new post when I get to it.
According to eye witnesses, the Meadview firetruck was at the scene with the ONE firefighter we have up here.
Also according to eyewitnesses, Bobby Porzio (in charge of fire fighter volunteers) and Steve Berg (former Meadview fire chief and now running for the fire board) were there and they entered the building or what was left of it in SHORTS and without oxygen masks. If that’s true, they are dumber than rocks.
I was very disappointed to see that despite Camille’s horrible death, nobody showed up at the meeting to demand answers. Sadly, most Meadview residents couldn’t care less about fire and emergency services.
There’s a good chance that the fire district will dissolve.
There is a fire dept. There I’m meadview. And some of the information that this Christine is staying is not the truth. The email that just posted from Florence who is camilles mother ….that email shouldnt have been posted. Also Camille is my mom. So I would appreciate if yall would not go writing or posting information without knowing 100% facts and truth….my family does not appreciate it. Neither do my mind friends!
Rachel, I really don’t care what you and your friends appreciate or don’t appreciate. Why didn’t you help your mom with a living trust?
And if there is incorrect information here, PLEASE enlighten us and post the correct information. What is it that I posted that’s NOT correct?
I searched the Internet for something on Camille’s death. Since this was all I found, I posted what information was passed on to me.
I’m sorry for posting that from your grandma, Rachel. I thought she knew what happened. If it is not what happened, I hope we get the truth.
As far as speaking to someone who is grieving, it really should not be said the way it has here. It’s better to let it slide than be contemptuous toward someone grieving.
Years ago, a woman died in a mobile home fire in our small town in N.E., WA. It could have been murder. The resources for small counties & towns to investigate just are not there. The news coverage just as scarce.
Please let’s not be snotty to each other. This is not a time for that.
Please, even if it is your first amendment right, please remove my first post. Thank you so much.
Thanks so much for the update, Judy. That nobody was there to help Camille is just horrible.
And to Tony, I don’t know what’s going on with the Meadview fire department. In the last half year I’ve been to all but the last fire board meetings (it was rescheduled to a different day with short notice and I couldn’t make it.).
We’ve been told numerous times that ONE paid person is in Meadview. According to the minutes of the last meeting, Meadview has an ambulance but it was in the shop. I definitely will have questions at the next fire board meeting (Monday at 1:30 in Dolan) – but likely we won’t get answers. Administrator Flynn’s favorite answer is that he doesn’t HAVE to provide answers.
I didn’t realize there was a meeting. Is there a way to e-mail us the meetings, so we know where and when. Please, lets not let Camille’s death be in vain. This is a wake up call to fix the situation.
There is an email list by Ellen and you can contact her at e.reh@lmrfd.org to be added to the list.
Wells Fargo declined the LMRFD request for a credit line and there are currently applications with other banks. If they all get denied and the county is not willing to help, the fire district may dissolve. We’ll see what happens.
I’m very discouraged as I heard today that Dolan Springs residents who wanted to run for the fire board were threatened to have their house burned down and Meadview residents Steve Berg and Suzanne Newell (responsible for the demise of the Grapevine Mesa Fire District) told me that they do NOT want me to join the fire district. Watch for my next post about today’s meeting — hopefully within a couple of days.
Maybe the Media needs to get involved. Not having a fire department is deplorable.
There’s very little “media” covering Dolan Springs and Meadview (aside from this blog), but there is talk about demanding that the AZ attorney general investigate the corruption and conspiracies in Meadview and Dolan.
I may not be able to fix the fire department and ambulance problems, but maybe some GOOD people will step up and support a LOCAL newsletter with real info and LONG TERM solutions.
There ARE good people here, but too many have been threatened.
I already got the ENTIRE MCA board to resign (only to get a new board as bad as the old board), but NOT being retired and NOT getting a retirement check doesn’t leave me with enough time and money to fix every problem by myself.
I’ll keep on trying …
Please Christine dont post anything about my mom.without knowing all the facts…..it information has lies in it. Please leave our family out of your posts
Rachel, do you know what the First Amendment is?