Vallejo police patrol vehicle burns on Interstate 80 in Fairfield

By Carlos E. Castañeda

A Vallejo police vehicle went up in flames while on Interstate Highway 80 in Fairfield on Thursday, the department said.

In a press release, the Vallejo Police Department said that an officer was driving a marked police vehicle westbound on I-80 near the Abernathy Road exit when the officer noticed smoke coming from the back of the vehicle, a Ford Police Interceptor utility vehicle based on the Ford Explorer.

After the officer pulled over and exited the patrol car, the officer began to see smoke and flames coming from the rear area of the vehicle, and the officer removed firearms and other items that were inside, police said. The officer was not able to retrieve the patrol car’s fire extinguisher that was in the back of the vehicle, according to police.

The vehicle became fully engulfed as the Fairfield Fire Department responded to the scene and extinguished the fire. No one was injured, police said.

It was deternined that the fire was caused by a failure in an electrical control module in the rear of the police vehicle, police said, and that road flares stored near the failed equipment ignited during the fire. 

The department it was reviewing the equipment failure and the circumstances surrounding the incident.