Faulty wiring of RV refrigeration unit causes multimillion-dollar loss, investigators say

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Making light of an unfortunate situation, the marquee at Paul Everts RV Country now 'reads fire sale red hot deals'.

The well-known dealership remains open just one day after 30 foot high flames caused millions of dollars in damages.

"You got to take a situation like this, but we're going to turn it into a positive," Paul Evert's RV Country Vice President Charlie Power.

The maintenance shop and the 10 motorhomes and trailers inside were lost but it could have been much worse for a business that has served the Central Valley for decades.

Several ABC30 insiders sent us videos showing Paul Evert's Country RV up in flames Tuesday night.

"When you start towing up RVs and the building. It's probably a couple of million will it affect business and we're determined to say no," said Power.

Investigators speculate faulty wiring of an RV's refrigeration unit inside the maintenance shop is what sparked the fire.

RELATED: Multimillion-dollar loss, several RV's destroyed by flames & explosions at Paul Evert's RV Company

Aerial pictures from our Skyview 30 drone show just how close the flames came to destroying the business office and nearby RVs.

"One of the things we can't rule out is electrical, was the vehicle plugged in no one was working on it at the time all the employees were out of the shop at the time of the ignition," said Cal Fire Capt. Jeremiah Wittwer.

Employees raced to put out the flames but their extinguishers were not enough. It took three dozen firefighters to get the fire under control, which was no small task.

"Trying to get the amount of water for this type of fire definitely posed some challenges had to get in contact with Malaga water to boost the pressure trying to get a lot of water for this and were pumping it from a long way," said Witter.