Dry Leaves Destroyed 3 to 4 Cars In Livingston Each Year, Fire Chief Warns

LIVINGSTON, NJ — Who would have thought that parking on piles of dry leaves could actually destroy a car? It used to happen in Livingston three to four times each year, although the instances are decreasing, the town's fire chief said.

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"Luckily, we have not lost any cars in the past couple of years due to leaves," Fire Chief Chris Mullin told Patch on Tuesday, "but we have in past."

In fact, in the past, the Livingston community would lose "three to four" cars each year, he said, but awareness has cut the number.

Mullin said that “car fire season,” occurs in October and November, because cars park on piles of leaves left curbside for pickup.

He said the catalytic converter, which converts gases from the car into more environmentally friendly gasses, can heat up the leaves under the car and cause a fire.

Livingston's leaf collection program began late last month. Read more about that here.

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