News Release

Truck catches on fire descending Towne Pass

Aftermath of the vehicle fire.

NPS

News Release Date: July 18, 2024

Contact: Abby Wines, 760-786-3221

DEATH VALLEY, Calif. – Multiple agencies responded to a truck fire on CA-190 in Death Valley National Park on Monday, July 15. The driver was uninjured, but the stake-bed truck was destroyed in the fire.

The vehicle fire appears to have been caused by overheated brakes while descending Towne Pass, while air temperatures were around 120°F.

The Federal Interagency Communications Center received several reports of the fire, at least one of which misreported the location as being in Panamint Valley. The fire was between Stovepipe Wells and Emigrant Junction. 

National Park Service (NPS) park rangers responded in an ambulance and patrol vehicles. The NPS was not able to respond with a fire engine due to staffing levels. San Bernardino County Fire Protection District, Beatty Fire Service, and the Bureau of Land Management’s California Desert District Fire provided fire response. The first engine arrived 90 minutes after the fire was reported.

This is the fourth vehicle to catch fire while descending Towne Pass in the past year.

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Links to other vehicle fires in past year:

• April 26, 2024
• January 10, 2024
• August 10, 2023