Dallas police officers were confronted with a potentially deadly situation Thursday on North Loop 12 at Jefferson Boulevard when their squad car caught fire and ammunition in its trunk began to explode.
The officers in the car were unhurt and their quick action to clear the freeway kept anyone from being hurt, officials said.
Lt. Andrew Harvey, Dallas police spokesman, said 2004 Dodge Intrepid police cruiser had about 96,000 miles on it when it caught fire. He said there was an AR-15 rifle in trunk and that the high temperatures caused its ammunition to go off.
Harvey said that arson investigators from Dallas Fire-Rescue determined that some type of flammable material came in contact with the cruiser's catalytic converter and caught fire.
"Everything occurred very fast, officers didn’t even have time to get their weapon out of the trunk," Harvey said in an email. "They did a great job; however, clearing the freeway on all sides to ensure the public was not at risk."
-- Lance Murray
yea, bullets do that when they burn. However, they are not in a barrel with one way out, therefore they do explode, but don't go very far. The casing is likely to go farther than the bullet, being lighter.
It's a dangerous situation, but at least they don't go shooting off like they were fired out of a gun.
Posted by: Colt | July 26, 2009 at 08:11 AM