UPDATE, Nov. 26, 10:30 a.m.:

Scott Cocking, the Arcata resident who snapped the photo above and all the ones below, posted an update on Monday evening showing that Buddy’s Towing successfully extracted the RV. 

“They wrapped the front end with chains and lifted it with a Bobcat to get it on the tow arm,” Cocking reports via Facebook. “Nice job guys! Except for a leaning palm tree and some orange barriers, Fickle Hill is back and open for business.”

He issues a warning to cyclists, though: “The corner had diesel spilled from side to side. The city did a good job of soaking it up, but I wouldn’t hit that corner too hard for a few weeks of rain. Might be like ice!”

Good advice!

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Original post:

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Some out-of-town travelers had a terrifying experience in Arcata on Sunday when their motorhome lost its brakes coming down Arcata’s steep Fickle Hill Road, causing it to collide with a parked car, a retaining wall and a palm tree before crashing through a guardrail and coming to rest half-suspended over a bluff near the bottom of the hill.

Arcata resident Scott Cocking, who captured the photos in this post, reported that everyone inside the vehicle, including a pet dog, survived the crash.

“The driver was taken to the hospital and was conscious and seemed in good spirits once they cut him out of the RV,” Cocking posted on Facebook.

The front end of the motorhome more or less disintegrated at some point during the extended crash, sending a pile of debris into the backyard of Cocking’s neighbor’s place.

The massive size of the vehicle has proved to be a problem for emergency responders. As of noon today the motorhome was still stuck in this spot and Fickle Hill Road remained closed.

An Arcata Police Department employee tells the Outpost that the city is waiting on equipment large enough to dislodge and tow away the massive RV.