Five rental cars the U.S. Secret Service used to transport President Joe Biden’s family on a recent vacation in Nantucket, Mass. reportedly caught fire on Monday morning after they were dropped off at the local airport. An incident involving the vehicles the Secret Service uses while protecting and transporting the president’s family carries added implications about how well protected the president and his family are.
On Monday morning, the Nantucket Airport announced airport staff had noticed a fire broke out at an airport overflow car lot at around 5:22 a.m. local time. The fire took place the day after the Biden family flew out from the Nantucket Airport.
The Nantucket Current reported five cars were damaged in the fire and that those vehicles were among the numerous vehicles the Secret Service rented as part of the Biden family’s security detail during their Thanksgiving vacation to the island.
The U.S. Secret Service did not immediately respond to an American Military News request for comment on the incident.
Videos shared by the Nantucket Current showed the extent of the fire damage to the rental vehicles.
The exact cause of the fire is unclear and is reportedly under investigation.
The five vehicles damaged in the fire included a Chevy Suburban, a Ford Explorer, an Infiniti QX80, a Ford Expedition and a Jeep Gladiator. The Nantucket Current reported the Ford Expedition was under a safety recall due to a faulty battery junction box that has caused fires but that particular vehicle had not gone through the recall fix before the Monday morning fire.
This incident is just the latest in a series of high profile safety incidents involving Secret Service personnel in recent weeks.
On Oct. 3, a Secret Service detail was transporting Vice President Kamala Harris through D.C. when her motorcade was brought to a standstill after one of the vehicles struck a curb. The agency said they had to transfer Harris to a secondary vehicle during that incident.
Just over a week after that incident involving Harris’ motorcade, two Secret Service uniformed officers were exposed to a “powdery substance” after making a traffic stop near the White House.
