Just past 1:00 a.m. on Wednesday, June 26th, Sheriff’s deputies were alerted to a car on fire in the 61000 block of Onaga Trail in Joshua Tree.
The owner of the car called Sheriff’s dispatch after their Black Porsche Cayenne reportedly “stopped running then caught fire.” The man said no one was inside the vehicle and by 1:14 a.m. the car was described to dispatch as “fully engulfed.”
When a Sheriff’s deputy arrived they reported a fire under the front passenger tire of the car which continued to spread to the hood. San Bernardino County Fire arrived and contained the fire to just the car.
According to the Sheriff’s logs, the man said he was trying to park the car in front of the short-term vacation rental he was staying in when the car went off the pathway, into the bushes and subsequently became stuck.
The man reportedly continued to hold his foot on the accelerator for “approximately 4 to 5 minutes,” causing sparks to catch the car or surrounding area on fire. No arrests or citations were reported in the incident.
If you get stuck anywhere in the desert, spinning tires can cause friction to heat up the area where the tire is stuck, potentially starting a fire under your car, or even worse, in the desert where hot and dry conditions can spark a fast-moving wildfire.
CalFire says that individuals who are determined to be responsible for a wildfire may be held accountable for the costs to fight it, something important to keep in mind as we head into a potentially explosive wildfire season.
