An unusual fire of an unusual car in an unusual place happened Monday, May 21 when a 1964 Shelby Cobra caught fire and burned inside the Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel in Utah's Zion National Park. The tunnel is just over a mile long and cut through solid rock, with six open "windows" in the outer rock walls that give a view of the surrounding area.


The driver and passenger escaped serious injury by seeking shelter in one of the windows of the tunnel, though the rare car was entirely destroyed. Firefighters were able to put the fire out without major damage to the tunnel or the timber supports within, partially thanks to a fire-resistant coating. Traffic was closed to the tunnel for over two hours.

It's not clear how the fire started, but it's hard to imagine a worse outcome to what should have been an incredible day. That car, surrounded by that scenery— maybe the car self-combusted from the raw, unadulterated awesomeness of it all. I'll decant a bottle of 10W-40 on the ground to commemorate the passing of what must have been a stellar vehicle.


(Source: NPS Digest, and thanks John Bresee!)