Near Myrtle Creek, Ore.–Thesparks from a malfunctioning catalytic converter caused nine small fires Thursday.
“If you’re following somebody and you see some embers coming out of the exhaust. The driver of that vehicle may not even know it.”
The Douglas County Fire District said that’s pretty much what happened Thursday. Adriver was heading north on I-5 at mile 104 when their van sparked for 14 miles causing the nine fires.
Dave kelly owns Kelly’s Automotive Service in Medford and said it happens when catalytic converters overheat or break. He said iif your catalytic converter starts to come apart it can send sparks through the muffler, exhaust and out of the tail pipe.
You may not see it because it’s under your car but you can prevent it.
“This is an item that you should be looking at the shields and making sure that theyre working properly. For the driver of the vehicle they may notice the check engine light is on or it might be flashing at them,” said Kelly.
Crews are now working to mop up the 55 acres burned. According to the Oregon Department of Forestry, nine of 525 human caused fires in the state this year.
Fires that serve as a reminder to be aware this fire season. ODFalso said if you are caught driving with acatalyticconverter that sparks fire youwill be responsible for the firefighting cost.
No word on if the driver on this most recent case will face any fines.
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