A McLaren 720S Wrecked In A Fatal Crash Just Caught Fire Again In A Police Impound Lot, Weeks Later
Weeks after a fatal crash in Irvine, California, killed two people, the wrecked McLaren 720S at the center of it caught fire again on its own. Surveillance cameras at a secured Costa Mesa tow yard recorded the front section of the wreckage igniting on October 14 with nobody nearby. Irvine Police released the footage Saturday, confirming arson isn’t suspected, and the cause is still under investigation.
The car belonged to James Wehr, 27, co-founder of South Orange County Cars and Coffee. He and passenger Alexis “Lexi” Kramer, 22, died when his modified 720S crashed on September 13.
A Violent Crash Split The McLaren In Two
Wehr was stopped at a red light at Culver Drive and Deerfield Avenue just after midnight when he accelerated hard on the green. Investigators say he lost control, hit a curb, and slammed into a tree hard enough to tear the car into two pieces. The McLaren caught fire at the scene, and both occupants died before help could reach them.
Irvine Police’s Major Accident Investigation Team moved the wreckage to the contracted Costa Mesa yard the department uses for collision evidence. It sat there untouched for more than a month.
Cameras Caught Sparks With Nobody Around
The October 14 footage shows sparks appearing on the wreckage before the fire grows into a full blaze, eventually filling the garage with enough smoke to blind the camera. Police say preliminary findings confirm no one was present or touching the car when it started. Costa Mesa Fire and Rescue is now investigating the second fire alongside the ongoing crash probe.
Irvine PD points to the most likely suspect: the crash, the split, and the first fire left the McLaren’s structure and electrical system badly damaged. That damage may have played a part in the car reigniting.
Why A Gas-Powered Supercar Can Reignite Weeks Later
A delayed fire sounds like an EV problem, and there’s an EV-style culprit here. The 720S runs a twin-turbo V8, but it uses a lightweight 12-volt lithium-ion starter battery instead of a lead-acid unit. Crushed, punctured, or overheated lithium-ion cells can slip into thermal runaway, which can smolder for days or weeks before flaring up.
Investigators haven’t ruled out severed fuel lines or damaged wiring harnesses either, since leftover fluids and heat can create delayed ignition conditions. Nothing is confirmed, and police say the full collision reconstruction could take months.
Wehr was a familiar face at South Orange County Cars and Coffee, where builds like his 720S drew weekend crowds. His death has hit that community hard, and seeing his car make headlines for burning alone in an impound lot only deepens the sting. Hopefully both investigations deliver answers soon, if only to give the community he helped build some closure.
Source: Irvine Police Department
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