A mechanical issue was likely to blame for the Wednesday morning fire that destroyed a FedEx delivery truck, according to Oktibbeha County Fire Coordinator Patrick Warner.
Warner told The Dispatch Friday morning that no foul play or criminal origin is suspected.
The FedEx truck caught fire at around 11:30 a.m. on Self Creek Road near Adaton in Oktibbeha County. Other drivers saw smoke and sparks coming from the vehicle and alerted the driver, who pulled over and got out, Warner said.
Oktibbeha County volunteer firefighters extinguished the blaze, Warner said.
The fire likely originated in the engine area, Warner said.
“We have (vehicle fires) all the time on the interstate,” Warner said. “… It’s not an uncommon thing. When you’ve got gasoline, oil and heat in a small compartment like an engine area that’s just a recipe for things to happen.”
The fire involved 30-06 ammunition in the truck’s cargo compartment going off in the blaze, which Warner said was less common but still not terribly strange.
“We don’t see it as much in vehicles, but we do sometimes because people hunt and people keep firearms in their vehicles,” Warner said. “But mostly the fire starts in the engine compartment and we extinguish it before it gets hot enough (to set off the rounds). We see that more often in fires at homes.”
Warner said when ammo in a fire starts cooking off, the firefighters hang back and take cover.
“We extend the perimeter and back up,” Warner said. “Duck and hide. You don’t want to get hit with a bullet. We try to let it calm down before we go back and try to extinguish it.”
FedEx Corporate Communications did not return Dispatch phone calls by press time.
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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