A soft-drink delivery truck burst into flames two weeks ago on California State Route 190 within Death Valley National Park, becoming the fourth vehicle in a month to burn to ashes in the park. While Death Valley is infamous for averaging a high temperature of over 100 degrees during the summer, driving across the inhospitable landscape should be a mundane experience. However, the heat resiliency of vehicles is seemingly falling behind as climate change is worsening Death Valley’s already extreme conditions.
The firefighters at the scene believe that overheating brakes caused the delivery truck fire, according to the National Park Service. The driver escaped unscathed while the truck was reduced to charred and warped scrap metal. Brake fires have become common in Death Valley.
Another blaze over the month-long span was a brake fire on a vehicle descending Towne Pass. On July 15, a stake-bed truck caught fire while the air temperature was 120 degrees. On August 11, a fifth-wheel trailer being towed by a pickup truck caught fire while also descending the same pass. However, the pickup’s driver believed that a propane issue inside the trailer started the fire. Death Valley National Park spokesperson told SFGate:
“Most vehicle fires here happen because brakes overheat going down steep grades. This is part of why nearly every car manufacturer comes to Death Valley National Park to test their new vehicles in the summer.”
The fourth fire in this group was the strangest of them all. An SUV just burst into flames on July 21 while parked at Dantes View. Officials believe an electrical issue sparked the fire. It should be mentioned that another driver died of heat exhaustion during this span of crashes. A hiker visibly experiencing symptoms of heat exhaustion climbed into his car and drove off a 20-foot drop.