GREAT MOMENTS IN PROGRESS:

Shot: Richard Porter, Top Gear/The Grand Tour script editor on shooting the pilot episode for the BBC’s rebooted Top Gear in 2002:

A BBC safety person said it was dangerous to have cars with petrol in the tanks inside a building under hot studio lights. We successfully argued that heat doesn’t normally make cars explode, otherwise an Arizona summer would look like the set of a Michael Bay film. Also, it seemed that the most dangerous thing to do with petrol was to siphon it out of cars and leave it lying around in cans at the back of the building, just near the place where people went to smoke.

—From Porter’s 2015 history of Top Gear,  And On That Bombshell.

Chaser: Recent Surge in Car-Fire Recalls Frustrates Drivers:

Sean Nemeth, the owner of a plug-in hybrid Chrysler Pacifica, was perplexed when earlier this year he received a rather surprising recall notice, advising him to park his vehicle outside and away from structures.

The notice informed him that his particular model is at risk of catching fire—even while stationary and turned off—and the cause is still unknown.

“What am I supposed to do with it then?” said Mr. Nemeth, recalling his reaction at the time. He eventually decided to park it across the street from his house in a low-traffic cul-de-sac.

His predicament has become more commonplace in recent years with the expansion of electric-vehicle sales and more car companies confronting incidents of parked cars suddenly bursting into flames, including those involving more-traditional gas-engine models such as the Ford Expedition.

As a precaution, auto makers are issuing “park outside” orders that instruct drivers to park in the open air and away from houses and structures that could be potentially damaged if a fire were to occur. In many cases, the remedy isn’t immediately available, leaving drivers to figure out what to do with the vehicle in the interim—sometimes for months.

At least 31 recall campaigns covering 3.3 million vehicles have been launched with park-outside orders in the past decade, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The majority of those—18 campaigns, or about 60%—occurred within the past two years, NHTSA’s data show.

“It’s unusual to see several ‘park outside’ recalls in a row,” said William Wallace, associate director of safety policy at the nonprofit advocacy organization Consumer Reports. “But if there’s a fire risk, this is exactly the kind of guidance that people should get until a fix is available.”

The rise in these incidents is in part caused by problems that have emerged with some new batteries as the auto industry’s reliance on a still-maturing supply for the technology has grown, according to vehicle-safety advocates.

—The Wall Street Journal, Monday.