by JEN BIUNDO

Photo by Blain Moncrief

An RV burst into flames on RM 967 Thursday afternoon, sending huge plumes of black smoke into the sky above Buda and leaving the roadway scorched. No one was injured in the blaze, emergency workers said.

The driver had just purchased the 1977 Dodge RV in Uhland and was driving it home to Johnson City, followed by his son, said Buda Fire Chief Clay Huckaby. As he was passing in front of Beacon Hill west of Buda, the driver realized that the floor was getting hot, and looking down, noticed flames around his feet, Huckaby said.

The driver escaped from the RV, which was almost immediately fully engulfed in flames, Huckaby said. Firefighters from the newly-constructed station next to Dahlstrom Middle School responded to the page within two minutes, Huckaby said, and had the fire under control in about 15 minutes.

The burning oil in the RV sent smoke billowing into the air, attracting attention from miles around. Buda resident Blain Moncrief, general manager of the Kali-Kate Pavilion on RM 967, said she was pulling into her property and suddenly saw flames shooting 20 feet into the air.

“I was driving down the driveway at Kali Kate and suddenly this huge fireball exploded,” Moncrief said.

RM 967 was shut down for more than an hour as the burnt hulk of the RV was cleared off the road.

The RV had been purchased that day and was not registered or insured, investigators said.