$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: 1) by fustakrakich on Thursday August 29 2019, @05:18PM (8 children)
can do everything but cut the grass...
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 3, Touché) by takyon on Thursday August 29 2019, @05:31PM (7 children)
It crisped the grass.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(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!
🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(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..
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Thursday August 29 2019, @05:40PM (2 children)
Even modern cars can go into a "rich burn" mode when run at wide open throttle... Unburned gasoline certainly heats the catalysts and exhaust system, pretty sure the same is true for diesel once the system gets hot enough.
But... parking in tall dry grass seems like an extreme Rookie move, sure, you're hyped up from the chase, but if there are road-spikes out, it's doubtful that you need to clear off the hard road any time soon, and 25km South of Surfer's Paradise, it's not like they've never dealt with tall dry grass before.
🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 29 2019, @06:25PM
Pretty much every car owners manual says not to drive or park in tall dry grass or weeds because of the high temperatures at the catalytic converter. The cop was stupid. And, being a BMW... it probably had VW syndrome.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 29 2019, @08:39PM
I think they are specifically talking about DPF regeneration. In most versions, fuel is injected directly into the exhaust; but there are other methods that can be used. Regardless, the exhaust temp is pushed over 1,100 F. This then burns the excess soot generated in normal driving off the DPF. The exhaust is much hotter than normal conditions, even when running rich.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 29 2019, @05:48PM
Painting "police" on the doors changes nothing.
(Score: 3, Funny) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Thursday August 29 2019, @05:54PM (1 child)
Looks like Charlie and Roop are out of the game.
All up to March Hare, Gosling 1, and Max now.
This sig for rent.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 30 2019, @12:20AM
Showing your age there with that reference, Bronze.
(Score: 4, Funny) by Hartree on Thursday August 29 2019, @06:44PM
Modern cars are highly networked but sometimes it's not the computer in one that has a Halt and Catch Fire command.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday August 29 2019, @06:44PM (5 children)
While I'll admit I didn't know that a car might set dry grass on fire like that. I'd quite likely not be parking in tall dry grass anyway.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by RamiK on Thursday August 29 2019, @06:57PM (4 children)
I think it's one of those well known and completely logical facts no one knows about unless they were told about it in passing or had it happen to the farmer next door or something.
compiling...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 30 2019, @02:12AM (2 children)
...or read the owner's manual. As pointed out elsewhere in this item, if your car has a catalyst (burns unleaded fuel), it's just waiting to ignite grass or anything that comes in contact with the hot catalyst shell, and every owner's manual warns about this.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 30 2019, @12:15PM
Read.. the... manual?
For a.. car?
Why?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 30 2019, @12:57PM
No doubt under section 7 sub-section 5 paragraph 8 just between the paragraph warning you about the upholstery's tendency to spontaneously disintegrate when exposed to bleach at speeds over 70mph and >70% humidity and the part about having to insepct the air-conditioner's filters visually every 6month.
And yeah, the owner's manual is for service procedure (so and so oil changes... after so many miles) and troubleshooting when some led starts blinking. No one reads all these weird disclaimers.
(Score: 3, Informative) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Friday August 30 2019, @09:55PM
I knew of the possibility because of this incident [kitsapsun.com], quite a many years ago which happened quite a many miles away from where I was living at the time. Even though the combines didn't start the fire, others in the community remembered still earlier incidents where tractors might stall out over harvestable wheat or similar and cause a fire and the first thing one does in that case is to get clear of the tractor and proceed from there. That and it's not at all common in desert farming country (yes there is such a thing).... for passing trains to cause brush fires along the tracks that end up spreading as the story says.
This sig for rent.
(Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 29 2019, @06:49PM
Since when does the MFP drive Beemers?
How to steal an American city: Montes v. City of Yakima - https://www.aclu-wa.org/cases/montes-v-city-yakima-0 [aclu-wa.org]
Embezzlement & swindling at the state level: McCleary, et al. v. State of Washington - Supreme Court Case Number 84362-7: https://www.courts.wa.gov/appellate_trial_courts/supremecourt/?fa=supremecourt.mccleary_education [wa.gov]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 29 2019, @07:48PM (3 children)
Fuck the police.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 29 2019, @08:45PM
They need a bottom facing camera.
(Score: 4, Funny) by DannyB on Thursday August 29 2019, @09:36PM
Uh, no. Even if you are suggesting a consensual act, they are always looking for any kind of reason to manufacture a crime and be the hero.
The server will be down for replacement of vacuum tubes, belts, worn parts and lubrication of gears and bearings.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 30 2019, @12:12PM
No.
Don't.
They might enjoy it.
(Score: 2) by captain normal on Thursday August 29 2019, @08:58PM (5 children)
Sure we are talking Australian dollars, or about 134K US$, which is not too much when you consider all the extra features added to a patrol car. Beefed up suspension, stronger brakes, special tires, etc, not to mention all the expensive electronics and communications gear.
The Musk/Trump interview appears to have been hacked, but not a DDOS hack...more like A Distributed Denial of Reality.
(Score: 1) by Sulla on Thursday August 29 2019, @10:29PM (3 children)
Had a chat about this in the IRC this morning, and this is not correct. A comparable vehicle (one that we often use) is the Chevy Impala. The Impala is pretty evenly matched when it comes to performance (more HP, same speed, but probably heavier) but can be bought for like 35k. When you consider all of the upfits there isn't much more that goes into a patrol vehicle. Front and rear push bumpers will be ~1k total, top light is ~.5k, radio/laptop/SDC/general electronics for ~1k, back seat barrier ~.5k, paint/decals ~1k, tires and suspension for ~1k. So We are currently at ~40k or so for a basic patrol vehicle. Regardless if it is the BMW from TFA or the Impala, it will be replaced after 5 years because of all of the idle hours and general fleet replacement policy. So for this BMW you are talking 40k/year vs 8k/year plus maintenance to keep these vehicles on the road. If the BMW was a police chief vehicle (unlikely if it is doing patrol work) it might be 50k total with the extra radio and electronics.
134k is completely unreasonable and tells me they have something weird going on. In addition - that same BMW is somewhere around 50k here in the us, so we are talking more than double that price in upfits? Something is off.
Munis like to buy these as a sort of show of force. You see challangers and chargers bought here in the states, but they are also right around 30k for the base vehicle.
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 30 2019, @01:22AM (2 children)
Things are different in different countries. Australia has a higher cost of living than the usa (food, cars, energy all cost more) but the tradeoff is that wages are often higher and they have universal health care.
(Score: 1) by Sulla on Friday August 30 2019, @02:18AM (1 child)
Higher is something i can understand, 10, 20, maybe 50%. but 250%?
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 01 2019, @06:16AM
To give you some perspective on cost difference, the BMW-530d is 122,000 AUD for the base model. Assuming your price is also for the base model, then you are looking at a 64% increase in price for Australia. Add a 64% increase to everything else in the car, and that isn't that crazy of a price for a vehicle and its contents.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 30 2019, @10:45PM
That's a lot of fine money they have to extract to break even.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 29 2019, @10:45PM
See, it's not just Teslas that go up in flames.
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Friday August 30 2019, @12:00AM
When catalytic converters got to be a thing the news was full of "if you have one of these they get really hot, don't park them over tall grass".
Granted, it's been some 30 years. But you youngin's aren't being told basic stuff like this? I know my grandkids will know, in, jeebus farukin christo, 2 years when they start driving. It was just yesterday I found an eviction notice on the interwebs, printed it out, and stuck it on Jenny's belly. Those twins are now going on 15?
Is it just me, or do grandkids get older faster than their parents did?
Of course I'm against DEI. Donald, Eric, and Ivanka.
(Score: 2) by Coward, Anonymous on Friday August 30 2019, @12:13AM
<sarcasm>According to computer models, human CO2 emissions most likely caused the drought and dry grass (even if that's a regular thing). Overall, human CO2 made this car 10 times more likely to burn.</sarcasm>
(Score: 2) by CZB on Friday August 30 2019, @04:01AM
Bureaucrats are stupid, there are no exemptions to exhaust system rules. Not even for rural fire departments that fight grass fires most every year. So you just have to keep your eyes peeled to put out the fires your truck starts.
Rookie cop parks in grass happens a lot. Usually there are more experienced EMS workers around to yell at them before it lights up though!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 30 2019, @05:03AM
I've seen garage fires in the news and they sometimes show the back half of a beemer - in my opinion, freeway carbbqs are often these premium bmws