A single-vehicle crash on Saturday afternoon near East 120th Avenue and North Watkins Mile Road quickly turned into a fast-moving grass fire just north of Denver International Airport. Flames tore through the dry vegetation as fire crews rushed in, and authorities reported that no one inside the vehicle suffered serious injuries.
How the fire started
According to Denver7, the Colorado State Patrol got a call shortly after 2 p.m. about a single-vehicle wreck at East 120th Avenue and Watkins Road that set nearby dry grass on fire. By about 2:30 p.m., the blaze had already burned roughly 10 acres as crews worked to box it in, and Colorado State Patrol was handling the crash investigation, the outlet reported.
Conflicting size estimates and reported cause
The overall footprint of the fire depended on which update you were looking at. Denver Gazette — citing 9News — reported that the car’s catalytic converter ignited the dry grass and that the fire ultimately scorched about 237 acres before crews contained it around 3:30 p.m. The Gazette also noted that Brighton Fire Rescue used engines, brush trucks and water tenders on the incident, with the Hudson Fire Protection District and South Adams County Fire Department assisting on scene.
Firefighting response and containment
Brighton-area firefighters and mutual-aid crews moved into the fields north of 120th Avenue to corral the flames and begin mop-up, according to Denver7. The outlet reported that smoke from the blaze showed up clearly on area cameras while crews chased down remaining hot spots.
Why hot car parts can be dangerous
Fire officials regularly warn that exhaust systems and catalytic converters can reach temperatures high enough to ignite dry vegetation under a vehicle, a well-known ignition source when roadside fuels are dried out. Local preparedness guidance from the Sonoma County Fire District and fire investigation manuals such as Fire Investigation Strategy note past cases where vehicles parked on or driven into dry grass kicked off wildland fires. That is why firefighters keep reminding drivers to avoid pulling onto roadside vegetation when conditions are high risk.
No one inside the vehicle was reported to have suffered serious injuries, according to the Denver Gazette, and Colorado State Patrol investigators stayed on scene. Airport operations did not appear to be significantly affected, and regional meteorologists said smoke was visible from miles away as crews wrapped up mop-up work, the Hindustan Times reported.
