The brakes in a pair of vehicles caught fire and failed Sunday evening on U.S. 160 on Wolf Creek Pass, with one vehicle crashing and charges being levied against the driver.
According to an email from Master Trooper Doug Wiersma with the Colorado State Patrol, at approximately 7:15 p.m. Sunday evening a westbound 1994 Ford pickup hauling a 28-foot camper was descending Wolf Creek Pass when the trailer brakes caught fire.
The truck and trailer became a downhill runaway as the trailer brakes failed, Wiersma explained. At the scenic overlook curve at milepost 160, the driver, 34-year-old Ryan Sigler, from Bowlus, Minn., "then attempted to negotiate the sharp left hairpin curve without brakes, causing the trailer to roll onto its right side onto the concrete barrier at that location."
The truck, Wiersma informed, remained upright, and Sigler and his two juvenile passengers, ages 6 and 10, were uninjured.
Sigler was cited for careless driving and driving under restraint, Wiersma reported.
A second vehicle, driven by Sigler's wife, also lost its brakes when they caught fire, but stopped on its own at the scenic overlook, Wiersma noted.
Wiersma explained, "The crash occurred entirely within the closed off, and then-inactive construction area on the hairpin curve," with the crash and subsequent cleanup not affecting traffic flow.
