A bogged Jeep Wrangler’s hot exhaust is being blamed for a wildfire that torched “more than 20 acres” of the Ocala National Forest in Florida this week. Looks like somebody driving a JK Wrangler Unlimited got stuck somewhere with a lot of tall, dry grass, which was ignited by the exhaust. As you can see from images shared by officials, the conflagration consumed the vehicle and a whole lot of vegetation. There’s no info available about who was driving, but no injuries were reported. Rubber ducky casualties are also unknown.
The Forest Service and Lake County Fire Rescue teams battled flames overnight on April 11. The incident, dubbed the Grassy Pond fire, reportedly took place off Paisley Road within the Ocala National Forest. The park does have OHV off-road trails, but I couldn’t immediately figure out if this Jeep was on a sanctioned route or not.
I wouldn’t necessarily expect dry grass to be a big issue somewhere as wet as Florida, but the catalytic converter on a 4×4 can get pretty darn hot. If that Jeep was running hard and slow, trying to use high engine speed to power through sticky mud, parts of that exhaust pipe could be over 1,500ºF, about twice the heat needed to light grass on fire.
It’s a very crappy situation that would have been tough to wriggle out of. Obviously, the Jeep driver should have picked their route more tactically. But once you’re stuck in high grass, fire could get beyond what’s manageable with an onboard extinguisher pretty quickly.
Hopefully, the destroyed flora and displaced fauna will be able to bounce back. It’s a little heartbreaking to see the aftermath image above.
If you find yourself mired like this, it’s definitely prudent to clear the brush out from under the vehicle as quickly as you can. Unless, of course, it’s already burning, in which case, get the heck out of there. But if it hasn’t caught—you’re gonna need something to do while you wait for somebody to come snatch you with a winch, anyway. And have a real ABC fire extinguisher at the ready!
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