# Re 'Sopranos': Anyone ever see a car fire from 'leaves'? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 16, 2007, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-sopranos-anyone-ever-see-a-car-fire-from-leaves/408217 "2007-06-16T03:33:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2007, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-sopranos-anyone-ever-see-a-car-fire-from-leaves/408217/1 "2007-06-16T03:33:02Z")
A little back history: I’ve seen car fires before. Usually they started on the road–someone’s belt got loose and rubbed against something, or a carburetor came loose, whatever. But I saw the final episode of ‘The Sopranos’ the other night, and when the son’s SUV catches fire and blew up, his father blamed it on leaves. Now, I drive an F-150–I’ve got 12" clearance between my engine and the leaves. A majority of the SUVs I’ve seen have at least 6" clearance. Are leaves not against the engines supposed to catch fire? Tripler I’m just wondering if this is a clue or not. . . ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2007, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-sopranos-anyone-ever-see-a-car-fire-from-leaves/408217/2 "2007-06-16T04:19:45Z")
[Why you shoudn’t park on leaves](http://43firefighter.blogspot.com/2005/12/why-you-shoudnt-park-on-leaves.html) [A state police cruiser burst into flames, and set fire to a wooded area off Route 47 just north of Schooner Landing Road, following…](http://www.thedailyjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070522/NEWS01/705220313) [One hot summer day a cruiser melted by the side of the road and started a moderate grass fire. It was determined through mechanic logs that the car had been using much more oil recently, but nothing was done to figure out why - just kept adding oil. All that oil was burning in the cat and eventually the heat shielding burned through and the car ignited.](http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/02/13/215240) It’s usually the catalytic converter that starts the fire. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2007, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-sopranos-anyone-ever-see-a-car-fire-from-leaves/408217/3 "2007-06-16T05:58:38Z")
[Prevous thread on this subject](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=424437&highlight=Sopranos). Bottom line, yes it is possible. See post #9 ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2007, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-sopranos-anyone-ever-see-a-car-fire-from-leaves/408217/4 "2007-06-16T11:22:40Z")
:smack: Thanks guys! Tripler I will park my truck anywhere, and take my chances. ---
**Author:** ![Tamex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Tamex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamex)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2007, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-sopranos-anyone-ever-see-a-car-fire-from-leaves/408217/5 "2007-06-16T13:06:46Z")
I just bought a 2005 Chevy Impala, and was looking through the owner’s manual. One of the pages in the manual warned against parking on leaves (or other flammable materials). There was even a diagram of the car on top of some fallen leaves with a slash through it. I have never heard a warning against that before, but it makes sense. The manual said that the leaves could touch hot exhaust parts under the vehicle and ignite. The Impala is a sedan, and I would assume it would be more likely to happen to a sedan than an SUV, but if the leaves or grass were deep/tall enough, I think it would be possible. It does sound like there needs to be contact with some part of the car, though. If the show just depicted a few leaves scattered on the ground, I would be skeptical, but I guess one could fly up in there and get a spark going. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2007, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-sopranos-anyone-ever-see-a-car-fire-from-leaves/408217/6 "2007-06-16T14:05:55Z")
Edited to delete something so blindingly obvious I couldn’t bear the thought of having said it out loud. Sorry.