July 15 was a hot day in Death Valley National Park. Hot, not just from the weather. Hot when an 18-wheeler caught fire on California Highway 190. It’s an RVers’ brake warning. The big rig was destroyed as a result of hot brakes.
Many respond, but all too late
The Park Service says multiple agencies responded to the truck fire but were too late to do anything to save it. Happily, the driver was uninjured, but the stake-bed truck was destroyed in the fire.
The service says the fire looks to have been caused by overheated brakes while descending Towne Pass. The pass is infamous for its tight turns, one of them a 350-foot radius. And the grade? At one point it hits 15%. While the posted speed limit through the pass is 55 miles per hour, warning signs advise no more than 30 mph in some curves. Air temperatures were around 120°F at the time of the truck fire.
The Federal Interagency Communications Center received several reports of the fire, at least one of which misreported the location as being in Panamint Valley. The fire was actually between Stovepipe Wells and Emigrant Junction.
National Park Service rangers responded in an ambulance and patrol vehicles. The agency couldn’t send a fire engine for a lack of manpower. San Bernardino County Fire Protection District, Beatty Fire Service, and the Bureau of Land Management’s California Desert District Fire provided fire response. Adding to the 18-wheeler’s complete demise, the first engine arrived 90 minutes after the fire was reported.
RVers’ brake warning—Can you keep yours on the downgrade?
This is the fourth vehicle to catch fire while descending Towne Pass in the past year. This latest rig fire, directly linked to hot brakes, is an RVers’ brake warning. Not only do hot brakes catch rigs on fire, even before hitting that disaster other bad things can happen. Brake fade can easily lead to overspeed. Imagine reaching one of those 30 mph curves while your rig is doing 60. Hit the brake pedal and find nothing in response? It’s the stuff nightmares are made of.
Please, keep it safe! Read how you can safely make it down to the bottom of the grade without “using up” your brakes. Click here for Steep grade — getting your rig safely to the bottom.
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Stab braking!
When the speed increases to the speed LIMIT or less, then apply moderate to high brake pedal pressure to decrease speed 10-15 MPH. Release brake pressure. Let speed build up to your comfort level the apply the brakes again. Keep doing this all down the hill.
Applying the brakes in a steady manner will absolutely cause brake overheating. The longer the hill the higher the temperature until failure.
For diesel owners an engine brake is your true friend. On a 6% grade you should never have to use your service brakes.
Don’t hold the brake to maintain speed downhill use stab braking.
Thanks for the info, Bill. A post from Russ and Tiña De Maris regarding safely getting an RV down a steep hill, including that topic (although they refer to it as “snub braking”–same thing), is linked at the bottom of this post. Have a great afternoon/evening. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
Bill, you are so right. We frequent a Canyon with 5 miles of 14% downgrade. I downshift to lowest gear possible for the speed and brake stab all the way down. No overheated brakes!
That is my method. Never an issue.
GEAR DOWN!!! Let the transmission do most of the work. I descend steep grades with big DPs towing and hardly ever have to touch the brakes. I don’t care if there are vehicles behind me. If someone wants to pass, they are welcome to. I’ll meet them at the bottom, except I’ll be the rig still in one piece that took the road instead of the cliff.
This fire is the result of a trucker that is in too big of a hurry and/or doesn’t know how to properly drive it and shouldn’t be behind the wheel of a large commercial vehicle. Unfortunately I see more and more of this and frequently smell burning big rig brakes on steep grades.
Thank you, Russ and Tina! 🙂 Our RV has an engine brake that I can activate when it is hilly (our chassis manufacturer advised me to use it rarely to keep the brakes in good shape). It really is a transmission brake in that the rig downshifts when I take my foot off the accelerator when the engine brake is active. I have never driven RV #2 in California at all, let alone Death Valley’s roads. I will try to exercise appropriate caution if I ever drive there. 🤔🙂 Thanks again for the cautionary report, have a great week, safe travels, and safe stays! 🙂
I think your chassis manufacturer gave you bad advice, or you misunderstood. Use the engine brake routinely, it has to be exercised to stay in good shape. The service brakes will take care of themselves, you use them regularly without rationing them.
Thank you, Bill. No, no misunderstanding. We went to a three-day set of chassis classes at Spartan RV Chassis and that was a point of emphasis by the techs teaching the classes. It was both on their presentation and in the hand-outs. They were quite insistent that the engine brake be used only in hilly areas. Perhaps Freightliner has a different view. Thanks again, safe travels! 🙂
I learned long ago to go down a hill in the same gear you go up a hill…for starters. If the hill,or mountain, is steeper going down than up…stop at the top and do a brake check and proceed in the lowest gear,within reason,with common sense. Learn what a truck run away ramp is for also…it may save your six some day.
If the truck was going down Towne’s Pass on the west side where there is the 15% grade and 30mph curves, then it actually did happen in Panamint Valley. If it happened on the east side of Towne’s Pass where there is NOT a 15% grade, then it was in Death Valley. Keep in mind that all of Towne’s Pass is “located” in the Death Valley National Monument as part of the Monument extends into Panamint Valley. I’m not familiar with Emigrant Junction, but if it is where I think it is, then the truck was indeed on the death valley side of Towne’s Pass…but it is only a 6% grade….not 15.
I tow a ~ 5000 lb Escape trailer all over the mountains on the west coast with a Ford Expedition 4×4 that has the 10 speed and 3.5L Ecoboost, same setup as a late model F150. If you put the drive in ‘tow/haul’ mode, then on a downgrade brake til you get to your desired speed and let go of the brakes, it will downshift and hold that speed with the engine. I’ve *always* used my gearbox for downhill speed control, going back to when I was driving a 1966 VW…