Single rollover sparks small grass fire

Published 1:08 am Thursday, June 16, 2016

First responders put out a small grass fire Wednesday afternoon after a vehicle went off the gravel Marathon Road between Nikiski and Kenai and caught fire.

Nikiski Fire Deputy Chief Trent Burnett said the department was called out at 2:24 p.m. The driver, who was alone in the car, was not harmed.

“Basically we just had one vehicle go off the roadway here and roll over,” said Alaska State Trooper Sam Webber on scene. “And some type of mechanical issue led to the vehicle setting itself on fire.”

In addition to Nikiski and Kenai firefighters, Alaska State Troopers and the Alaska Division of Forestry responded to the accident. The grass fire was extinguished in a matter of minutes, and the vehicle took a little longer, Burnett said.

“This car’s got a lot of magnesium in it, so it sparks up when it gets hit with water,” Kenai Fire Chief Jeff Tucker said on scene. “That’s why you use foam.”

A major concern was that the fire would spread too far to the surrounding grasses around the vehicle, Tucker said. A Division of Forestry helicopter was flown to the scene as a precaution, but was not used.

Reach Megan Pacer at megan.pacer@cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/peninsulaclarion.