Family remembers father and grandfather killed in fast-moving trailer fire in Helper

HELPER — A fast-moving and devastating fire has claimed the life of a beloved father and grandfather in the small central Utah town of Helper.

Family members said Rudy Draper, 73, had no time to escape when his trailer suddenly went up in flames.

The fire consumed his 32‑foot Fleetwood trailer within minutes, leaving behind only charred debris. Cellphone video taken by family shows the interior completely destroyed as they walked through the remains.

"It went up so fast. So fast," his daughter, Deyette Forsythe, told KSL.

Forsythe said the blaze erupted just before 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 14, at Pam's RV Park. She explained that the park manager tried desperately to save her father but was forced back by the intense heat and heavy smoke.

"He was crying and he said, 'I tried to get the person out, and I couldn't. I opened the door, (and the) smoke was coming out so heavily. The flames, the heat of it, just blew me backwards,'" Forsythe said.

Rudy Draper lived in the trailer with his dog, Tilly. Both died in the fire.

Draper was a father of three, a grandfather of eight, and a retired truck driver who was born in Price. He was a truck driver who had traveled to every state in the country except for three.

"He was a good man. You can never imagine losing somebody so close and in that way," said Forsythe. "I'm going to miss everything about him. Everything."

Investigators say the fire was started by the trailer's furnace. It remains unclear what caused the furnace to malfunction.