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I'm sorry do what now? You couldn't start a vehicle fire on a bet if you soaked the wheel wells in brake fluid and held the brake pedal to the floor from that vehicle's top speed. You want to start a car fire with brakes that takes the kind of abuse only seen under track conditions combined with a fuel leak, oil leak, or both. So nah, why tf did this vehicle catch fire?

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You assume everything is in good working order. Perhaps it was. Is this the type of vehicle that is designed for offroad abuse? Is this the type of owner that would do that anyways? Was there a secondary malfunction or perhaps something caught in the area before or after the accident that contributed to the cause?

Brakes get hot. Hot enough to burn you pretty good even on a car that hasn't been to the track and maybe even hot enough to light organic debris that comes in contact with it on fire. Which is probably pretty difficult normally but might be a lot easier if you bash a bunch of that structure to bits in a high speed accident.

Real mystery though.

I encourage you to float this hypothetical to your mechanic the next time your vehicle is in for service. Their response is certain to be educational.

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