A Bexar County deputy constable narrowly escaped his patrol unit on Interstate 10 East late Thursday night after the vehicle burst into flames while he sat inside typing information into his onboard computer. Deputy Day exited the unit just moments before it was engulfed, according to Precinct 4 Constable Kathryn Brown, who credited a quick-thinking fellow deputy with sounding the alarm in time.
The fire broke out while deputy constables were assisting a crash on I-10 West between Foster Road and Ackerman Road, an area officials describe as a busy commercial corridor in eastern Bexar County, according to KSAT. Deputy Day was seated inside his patrol vehicle entering data into a computer-aided dispatch system when the fire ignited. Deputy Hemingway, who was parked behind Day's unit, noticed the flames and alerted him, giving Day just enough time to get out before the vehicle was fully engulfed.
Constable Brown publicly commended Hemingway for spotting the fire and warning Day, and she also thanked Assistant Chief Wade for quickly alerting precinct leadership about the emergency. Officials did not immediately release details about what caused the fire, and no injuries related to the blaze were reported, per Brown's account relayed through the same outlet.
Hours-Long Shutdown Snarled Eastbound Traffic
The vehicle fire shut down all lanes on that stretch of I-10 for several hours, according to the report. Emergency shutdowns along this corridor routinely push high-volume interstate traffic onto local frontage roads near Foster and Ackerman roads, a pattern that has caused multi-mile delays in the area before, as Hoodline reported after a 2024 Amazon truck crash snarled the same stretch of highway.
A Precinct With a History-Making Leader
Constable Brown made local history when she was elected in November 2020 as the first Black woman to serve as a Bexar County constable, capping a 19-year career with the Bexar County Sheriff's Office, according to KSAT's election coverage from that year. Precinct 4 deputy constables handle civil process service, court security, criminal warrant execution, and traffic enforcement, operating out of facilities upgraded under county capital investments approved in November 2021, according to Bexar County.
Thursday's incident is the latest reminder of how dangerous roadside stops can be for Texas law enforcement, particularly on interstates where drivers are legally required to slow down or change lanes near stopped emergency vehicles. Under Texas Transportation Code Section 545.157, the state's Move Over or Slow Down law requires motorists approaching a stationary emergency vehicle with active lights to shift into an adjacent lane or drop their speed to 20 mph below the posted limit, according to Dax F. Garza, P.C. Violating the law is a Class C misdemeanor carrying a fine of up to $200, but the charge escalates to a Class B misdemeanor if the violation causes bodily injury to a first responder, per the City of Houston.
Fire Follows Pattern Seen in Police Fleet Vehicles
It remains unclear exactly what caused Thursday's fire, along with the make and model year of the destroyed patrol unit and whether Bexar County had addressed any outstanding vehicle safety recalls on its fleet. The circumstances echo a broader, documented issue in police vehicles nationwide: in August 2024, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued a recall for more than 85,000 Ford Explorer Police Interceptor Utility vehicles from model years 2020 through 2022 over engine failure risks that could release oil or fuel vapors onto hot surfaces and spark under-hood fires.
The dangers stationary patrol units face on Texas interstates were thrown into sharp relief just weeks ago, when a Texas jury convicted a driver of intoxication manslaughter in a 2024 Katy Freeway crash in which a speeding vehicle struck a stationary deputy constable unit on I-10, igniting a fire that killed a deputy and an 8-year-old child, as Hoodline detailed in its coverage of the verdict. That case, along with Thursday's near-miss, underscores the risks deputy constables face routinely while managing crashes on some of the region's busiest highways. The City of San Antonio Transportation Department recorded 133 fatal traffic crashes resulting in 141 deaths across the city in 2025, while Texas Department of Transportation data logged 190 total traffic fatalities countywide in Bexar County that year, figures Hoodline previously reported in its coverage of a fatal I-10 East crash near Vance Jackson earlier this month.
