Can anyone provide any information regarding fires originating in the trunk of patrol vehicles that could have been started by flares.

I have one in my city that I have ruled everything out and the only thing that I am left with is flares.

The fire was localized to the center of the trunk of a 2006 Crown Vic with about 40k miles. No electrical or mechanical problems or complaints prior to the fire. The officer was driving down the road and noticed white smoke coming from the trunk. No indication of electrical problems or overloads.

Typically flares are kept loose in a large plastic trunk organizer. When I looked at other vehicles in the fleet you can easily find flares without the protective caps on them. The administration has a hard time believing that it could happen this way and basically use the argument that they have never had it happen to them before.

Thanks in advance.