PArker ROse Drekt

Good afternoon, could you please introduce yourself.

Yes! Hello, everybody, my name is Parker Rose

How are you involved in today’s case?

Well, I guess you could say I am a valuable witness! I was chillin in my RV at my friend Emberynn's house the night of the fire. That’s where I live, after all!

How did you end up parked in Emberlynn’s driveway?

I love my RV, she's like family to me. We’ve been everywhere together, but I decided it was time for me to settle down somewhere for good. That’s when Emberlynn let me park in her driveway. What a sweetheart she is. 

When did you move there?

I’ve been here since 2023, so a little over three years. 

Are you aware of a utility pole near your RV?

Yes. I can see a pole right on the curve of the road from my RV. 

Where is Emerberlynn’s driveway on this map?

It would be right around here, and that gives me a pretty good view of the pole here. 

Could you describe the condition of this pole?

The metal box thing at the top of it was really rusty; the rust stuck out pretty bad against the metal. I’m pretty sure the pole itself had splinters sticking out of it. It’s a real eyesore, and kinda smelly. I mean, it’s covered in bird poop. It was like that even before the crash happened. 

Were there any accidents with this pole in the first few years you moved in?

Yeah; I’d seen two people before that skid off the road there, but they didn’t hit the pole like the one the night of the fire.

Did anyone come to inspect the pole after these incidents?

Well, I don’t know if the utility company, MG&E, knew if cars had slid off the road, but they did inspections the morning after both.

Did MG&E do any regular inspections?

Yeah. And they’d park right behind my RV every time! When I first moved to the valley, they’d show up around every two weeks in their fancy MG&E trucks.

How did these inspections go?

Well, I don't know much about utility poles, but the inspections seemed pretty thorough to me. The workers spent several minutes on each pole, sometimes even opening the equipment to check it out. I remember seeing bucket trucks, shears, and tablets that they would use to take notes and photos. But things have changed since then…

How did the inspections change?

In the beginning of last year they stopped coming as often, around every four to eight weeks. They also got rid of their cool tablets and quit taking pictures. Those fancy smansy MG&E trucks went away too; the workers would show up in their own cars. I started to get real curious about why they essentially did a 180! Luckily, I ran into an employee and I just couldn’t help but ask! 

What did that employee tell you?

They told me the employees had been replaced by contractors that were paid “by the pole,” instead of hourly. Then they said ‘if you take your time, you lose money, and if you move, you can make your day.” 

I would like to move on to the night of the fire. How did that night start for you?

I started the night off watching TV in my RV. I supposed it was midnight when I heard the fireworks going off. It was about 90 minutes after that I heard a big crash! 

So you heard this large crash that night, what was it?

I looked out my window to check, and I saw that someone had hit the utility pole. It looked like a nasty wreck, too.

What was the condition of the pole after the crash?

The pole was leaning at a crazy angle, I had never seen anything like it before. 

Did anyone come after the crash?

The first responders came pretty quickly; EMTs got the passengers cleaned up while Officer Charlie Weaver took some photos and whatnot. I actually saw the cop on the phone, and when he got done one of the EMTs asked him what MG&E said. They left shortly after that, and things died down. 

Did MG&E come inspect the pole?

From the time that I heard the crash, to the time that I drove off, I never saw anybody from MG&E come to the scene.

Why did you drive off?

Well, my darling RV can’t handle the rain. It makes her all nervous and shaky, so I drove my RV over to Calkins Campground to get her under some cover. 

While you were driving away, did you see anything?

I noticed some flashes, maybe even sparks, in my rearview. At the time, I thought it could’ve been fireworks, but now that I’m sitting here thinking about it, they could’ve also come from the pole behind me. As I kept driving I saw smoke from behind me too.

Did this smoke concern you at all?

The first thing I thought of when I saw the smoke was my friend…Emberlynn. She was in that direction. I thought about turning around to check on her…but I just told myself she’d be fine. 

Did anything happen to Emberlynn?

Emberlynn…she died in that fire. I was wrong, she wasn’t fine and she was in danger. There’s not a day that goes by where I don’t wish she was still here.