BLM: Idling Cars Can Ignite Forest Fires

By Katherine Fritcke
Published: Tuesday, July 5, 2016 - 12:15pm

Wildfires don’t just start from unattended campfires or cigarette butts thrown out the window. Fires can easily be started on the side of the road by idling cars.

With many people taking to the road over the holiday break, Dolores Garcia with the Bureau of Land Management said the majority of fires they do see are started along the roadways.

“We’re also seeing cases of cars pulling off the side of the roadway, parking in dry grass, and heat from the vehicle starting that grass fire and starting a wildland fire. We’ve had examples of this year already,” she said.

Garcia said flat tires riding on the rims can also create dangerous sparks.

She said the lack of winter rain and a bumper crop of foliage from 2014 storms are creating more fire prone conditions.

 

Science