Archive for March, 2006

>Craig and Debbie (Burton) Phillips were eyewitnesses to one of the biggest disasters in Texas history this past weekend as they traveled home from business meetings in Dallas and Houston.

Four people died in a chain-reaction crash on Interstate 40 east of Groom as smoke obscured the road, and low visibility eventually forcing officials to close an 89-mile stretch of the highway from Amarillo to Shamrock for six hours on Sunday.

Miraculously, Craig and Debbie traveled through that very area Sunday, describing the harrowing experience as follows: “As we were coming upon Groom, the westbound I-40 freeway was stopped and we sat there in our motorhome for about 15 minutes when we saw waves of flames coming across the grass in a field to the right of us. The second wave hit a ranch near us and the third wave appeared as if the home on the ranch was engulfed in flames. With each wave of flames, the fire would get closer and closer to the freeway until it was about 100 yards away from us,” Debbie continues. “Then fire jumped onto the grassy area between the freeway and a side road. We were prepared to abandon the motorhome and had our computer and valuables to take with us. Full Story…

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>The Family Motor Coach Association’s “Celebrating Family” convention will be held at the Fairplex Monday through next Thursday. About 4,000 recreational vehicles and between 10,000 and 12,000 people are expected to attend during the four-day event.

This is the fifth time the association has had its show at the Fairplex – the last was in 2003, said Robbin Gould, spokeswoman for the group.

The show unofficially starts on Monday at 3 p.m. with a special exhibit of motorhomes only. That four-hour event will include a special seminar called “Selecting the Right Motorhome for Your Needs.”

For the rest of the week, the association’s main show will start at 8:30 a.m. and last until 5 p.m. During the main show, about 800 RVs will be on display along with other RV-related accessories and parts booths. Full Story…

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>The City Council hopes its revised camping ordinance will extend a “welcome to Billings” sign to owners of recreational vehicles. At the same time, local merchants say the regulations give them the tools to shoo away RV owners who overstay their welcome.

The cornerstone of the new RV camping ordinance, approved on first reading Monday, is a 10-hour rest period that allows RV owners to stay temporarily in private parking lots. An ad hoc committee that studied the issue over several months had recommended a six-hour rest period. But the council decided that a longer rest period would be easier to enforce and would save RV owners from heading back on the road before they’re fully rested. Full Story…

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