$200,000 police patrol car goes up in flame shortly after parking on long dry grass
One of the most expensive police cars used in Australia has gone up in flames following a chase in north-eastern New South Wales.
The turbo diesel BMW highway patrol car had been pursuing a sedan being driven by a teenager near Tweed Heads.
The chase ended in long grass on the edge of the Pacific Highway at Chinderah after road spikes were laid, puncturing the fleeing vehicle's tyres.
Murwillumbah resident Geoff Huxley watched the drama unfold after he pulled over when he heard the police siren.
"We were about to drive off and I said to my wife, 'Hang on, I think the police car is on fire'," he said."I looked over and a fire had developed under the police car and literally within seconds the car was in flames.
[...] The BMW-530d was valued around $200,000, taking into account the equipment inside including an in-car video system, number plate-reading technology, front- and rear-facing cameras to capture mobile offences and breathalysers.
Motoring writer Toby Hagan said modern exhaust systems could reach around 500 degrees Celsius which created a significant fire risk.
"When that goes into its burn-off mode, it actually builds up even more heat and therefore potentially increases that risk.
[...] "They aren't expected to drive over grass too often and are usually confined to bitumen areas, but in this case it has ended up off the side of the road, probably exacerbated by the drought, the dryness of the grass and more prone to catching fire," he said.
(Score: 3, Touché) by takyon on Thursday August 29 2019, @05:31PM (7 children)
It crisped the grass.
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(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 29 2019, @05:36PM (4 children)
This is totally the commanding officer's lack of training, and the involved officer's lack of common sense.
ANY vehicle even a low spec one driven into dry grass during the summer *WILL* cause a fire, from a riding lawnmower up to a Bugatti Veyron. The higher the tune and the lower the exhaust, the better the odds are of it happening rapidly, but even on lesser tuned vehicles sitting them in the grass like that is just waiting for the fire to happen.
This hothead may not deserve to be fired, but he does deserve some very public mocking to share him or her into doing a much better job next time including considering all aspects of a pursuit situation they are involved in. That obviously didn't happen this time and resulting in a large amount of expensive police equipment going up in smoke.
(Score: 3, Funny) by PartTimeZombie on Thursday August 29 2019, @10:20PM (2 children)
Oh cut the guy some slack. This is Australia, so he was probably being bitten by a venomous snake and a massive spider at the same time.
No wonder he was distracted.
Also, Australia is constantly on fire, so this is no big deal. Just watch the Boxing Day test from the MCG. The fielding team always carry fire extinguishers just in case.
(Score: 2) by legont on Friday August 30 2019, @04:25AM (1 child)
Perhaps, it's just a bad car.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 30 2019, @12:10PM
Still going to place a bet on the grass trying to kill the driver.
Straya, ya know
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 30 2019, @03:14AM
It is winter here.
(Score: 4, Funny) by JoeMerchant on Thursday August 29 2019, @05:43PM
In Soviet Surfer's Paradise, grass crisps YOU!
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(Score: 3, Funny) by fustakrakich on Thursday August 29 2019, @05:48PM
If it was CRISPRd grass, they could make it flame retardant...
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..