Photo: CHP-Truckee
California Highway Patrol received a report of a car ablaze on Interstate 80 at around 5:30 A.M. on Thursday, July 15.
When officers arrived near the Farad off-ramp by the California-Nevada border, they found a man yelling about "the bears," CHP-Truckee Officer Carlos Perez told SFGate.
It was then that the officers discovered the man had set his own car on fire to scare off the bears he was yelling about.
"Listen, we have bears in the area," said Perez. "But there were no bears nearby."
CHP-Truckee took to Facebook to share the unusual incident.
"We are always appreciative of additional fire extinguisher training, but in case anyone was wondering, no you cant light a fire on the hood of your vehicle to 'keep the bears away,'" they wrote.
The fire was quickly put out by officers because the car was surrounded by brushy hillsides. The man was then put under arrest.
According to SFGate the man is being charged with arson and being under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance.