CEDAR CITY — An SUV that had been pulling a boat trailer was destroyed by fire on state Route 20 in Iron County on Monday evening.
Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. David Bairett said the vehicle involved was a 2018 Ford Expedition with five occupants. At approximately 5 p.m, the SUV was eastbound on SR-20 near mile marker 5 when the driver noticed it was overheating.
“He pulled to the side of the road and that’s when he realized the vehicle was on fire,” Bairett told Cedar City News. “He was able to disconnect the boat that they were towing and get everybody out of the vehicle.”
No injuries were reported.
Although the boat and its trailer were spared, Bairett said the SUV was a total loss, having been almost entirely consumed by the flames.
The fire even spread to some nearby vegetation along the roadside.
“There was some brush that caught on fire but they were able to contain it,” Bairett added.
Traffic along SR-20 was impacted by a single-lane closure for around 2 1/2 hours before the road fully reopened at approximately 7:30 p.m.
Bairett noted that Monday’s vehicle fire occurred in almost the same location as the incident on Friday that involved a semitractor-trailer tipping over and spilling its load of beer onto the roadway.
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