PORT ANGELES — An unidentified piece of plastic caused the engine compartment of a Clallam County Sheriff’s Department patrol car to catch fire last month.
The engine compartment of the car, a 2008 Ford Crown Victoria, caught fire on Aug. 21 while Deputy Mark Millet was responding to a call on Jimmycomelately Road.
The car was parked, with the motor turned off, when the fire began.
Undersheriff Ron Peregrin said that the plastic caught fire because of heat from the engine under the fuel lines, which helped feed the fire.
It is unknown what the function of the plastic was, or how it got into the engine compartment, he said.
The car is one of seven 2008 Ford Crown Victorias the department acquired in May.
It had about 3,000 miles on it.
The fire was fairly small, Peregrin said, and only some non-metal materials, such as hoses and wiring were damaged.
Peregrin said 40 pounds per square inch of fuel are pumped through the fuel lines when the engine is running.
Only some residual fuel was in the lines at the time of the fire, he said.
