UT Wildland Fire Vehicle Catches Fire in National Park Bay

A wildlands fire vehicle caught fire in its bay at the emergency operations center at a national park in Utah on Wednesday.

Employees at Zion National Park's emergency operations center began smelling smoke in the building at about 6 p.m., the Deseret News reports. A park ranger then looked through the windows of the apparatus bay and saw a wildlands fire vehicle in flames.

Rangers used another apparatus in the bay to help put out the burning vehicle, and they were joined by firefighters from Hurricane. The building's fire suppression system prevented extensive damage to the center and other vehicles in the bay, and no injuries were reported.

"Damage to the building is minimal due to the fast reaction of the rangers and the building’s fire suppression system,” park spokesman Jeff Axel told the Deseret News. 

The fire is being blamed on an electrical short in the vehicle, Jeff Bradybaugh, the park's superintendent, told St. George News. The damage to the vehicle, which is less than a year old, is estimated at $130,000, but it's loss won't adversely affect firefighting service.

“The destruction of this engine is a loss to our wildland fire program, but we have a primary engine we typically use,” Axel told St. George News. “We also have an engine and crew from Crater Lake National Park here right now.”