Truck catches fire in 120-degree heat as it descends in Death Valley, rangers say

A truck was engulfed in flames after catching fire in Death Valley National Park amid triple-digit heat, rangers say.

The stake-bed truck was descending Towne Pass on California State Route 190 on Monday, July 15, when its brakes overheated, igniting a fire, the National Park Service said in a July 18 news release.

At the time, “air temperatures were around 120 (degrees Fahrenheit),” rangers said.

The high temperature is part of an ongoing heat wave in Death Valley , where average high temperatures are 117 degrees for the month of July, according to a July 15 NPS news release.

Photos from rangers show the truck ablaze on the side of the highway as smoke billows out.

After determining the fire was between Stovepipe Wells and Emigrant Junction, rangers said they responded with an ambulance and patrol cars.

Rangers said they were not able to bring a fire engine to the scene “due to staffing levels.”

About an hour and a half after the fire was initially reported, a fire engine arrived, officials said. Fire crews from multiple agencies, including San Bernardino County Fire Protection District, Beatty Fire Service and the Bureau of Land Management’s California Desert District Fire, responded.

While the driver was not hurt, the truck was destroyed, according to rangers.

This vehicle fire marks the fourth such on Towne Pass in the past year, rangers said.

From July 4 to July 12, the park reached at least 125 degrees nine days in a row, according to rangers.

“This was the park’s second-longest streak of high temperatures at or above 125 degrees, just behind the ten-day streak measured in 1913,” rangers said.

During this recent heat wave, the area reached a peak of 129.3 degrees on July 7, according to rangers.

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