Truck burned for 90 minutes after catching fire in Death Valley
Ty O'Neil / AP
Tourists take photographs with the thermometer at the Furnace Creek Visitor Center during a dangerous heat wave, Tuesday, July 9, 2024, in Death Valley, Calif. The thermostat is imprecise, registering the temperature anywhere from 1 to 5 degrees Fahrenheit higher than more precise instruments and providing a more impressive reading for pictures.
Friday, July 19, 2024 | 5:17 p.m.
A truck traveling through Death Valley National Park caught fire and burned for 90 minutes after its brakes overheated in 120-degree weather on Monday.
The stake-bed truck was traveling downhill along a steep and windy part of CA-190 called Towne Pass between Stovepipe Wells and Emigrant Junction. The driver was unharmed.
After several callers reported the fire to the Federal Interagency Communications Center, park rangers responded with an ambulance and patrol vehicles.
According to the NPS press release, a lack of staff meant the park couldn’t send a fire engine to assist. As a result, the first engine arrived 90 minutes after getting the report.
The San Bernardino County Fire Protection District, Beatty Fire Service, and the Bureau of Land Management’s California Desert District Fire responded.
Three other vehicles have caught fire from overheated brakes along Towne Pass within the last year, according to the National Park Service.