A truck carrying 44,000 pounds of chickpeas burst into flames while driving through California's Death Valley National Park last month, park officials said Friday.
According to the National Park Service, the truck was traveling down Daylight Pass and Mud Canyon Road, which are closed to commercial trucks, around 5:30 a.m. on Nov. 21 when its brakes overheated and the fire occurred. occurred.
Officials said the truck driver finally stopped the vehicle when he reached a flat area of CA-190. Multiple agencies responded to the fire, but no injuries were reported.
Death Valley National Park Director Mike Reynolds said commercial truck accidents and fires always raise concerns about what materials are released into the park.
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Firefighters extinguished a blaze in Death Valley National Park last month after a truck carrying 44,000 pounds of chickpeas burst into flames. (NPS/Brian Airou)
“However, it is highly unlikely that unremoved feral chickpeas will become an invasive species in the driest place in North America,” Reynolds said.
Officials said chickpeas do not pose a risk to the Death Valley National Park ecosystem. (St. Petersburg)
Park officials said towing service Two Star Towing removed the charred debris and cleaned up the remaining dried chickpeas.
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The incident was one of a handful of truck fires in the park this year. The San Francisco Chronicle reported.
The NPS says on its website that a steady drought and record summer heat have made Death Valley a “land of extremes.” (NPS/Höllner, File)
California Highway Patrol spokesperson Torey Michener told the newspaper in July that truck fires are “typically caused by driver error, starting the fire by hitting the brakes instead of downshifting the engine to slow down.” will occur,” he said.
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Death Valley National Park spokeswoman Abby Wines told the paper at the time that even with automatic transmissions, most drivers don't know they can downshift to save brakes.
