It's Murder on Cars, Too

Death Valley was very hot last month.

How hot was it?

It was so hot that a tractor trailer's brakes--later the entire vehicle--caught on fire going down a hill.

Dramatic moments like these are surprisingly common in Death Valley, owing to a confluence of geography, climate and human folly. While normally seen from a distance as a salty, flat lowland with one very famous thermometer, Death Valley is in fact a rippling landscape with 11,000-foot peaks and mile-high roadways like Towne Pass, a crucial point along California State Route 190.

The jutting roadway connects Stovepipe Wells (elevation: 10 feet) and Panamint Springs (1,926 feet), with a steep grade that often catches truckers and touring RV drivers off guard. The strenuous roads, combined with the already high temperatures, make brakes even more prone to overheating and fire than on average roads. Just last year, the National Park Service says, six tractor trailers and a fifth-wheel RV all caught on fire along CA-190.

As expected, many writers blame global warming for Death Valley's high temperatures:

It’s probable that Death Valley’s dangers will only get worse as global temperatures continue to climb, the inevitable result of climate change. This year, parts of the park reached 100 degrees by late March, the third-earliest date for such a temperature in over a century. Last year, the park’s average 24-hour temperature in summer stood at over 104 degrees, a grim new record. At those levels, even driving the grade in the pre-dawn hours won’t save your brakes from overheating.

Death Valley holds the record for the highest temperature of 56.7 °C (134.1 °F) registered on Earth, which occurred in 1913.