if two ten year olds can successfully hide in it, it must have been a huge pile. wouldn't the trucks catalytic converted pose a serious fire risk parking in a pile of leaves?
not to mention he felt no bumps? the kids didn't scream when he hit them?
it's a tragedy nonethtless, but looks like stupidity played a large role.
If the truck had been running for any time at all, absolutely.
The area around Methuen is heavily wooded. Also, the trees are almost all oak and tend to drop all their leaves within a day or two.
If the wind blow towards his house (as in my parent's case) it's not unusual to get a huge (2-3 ft deep) pile of leaves against a fence or other obstacle.
A couple of things (and i'm just observing,so don't reply with any insults, please):
The pile of leaves could have been raked close to the garage door,forming a leaf "tent" of sorts The kids were probably small in size,and it is feasible that they could indeed hide in a pile of leaves.
Evidently, dad wasn't big on bagging,and the leaves were simply raked up and forgotten.He'd probably backed up to it,or over it,a number of times,and if it's in a damp area,they wouldn't hhave caught fire so easily.
He could have had his windows up & radio playing when he backed up,so he wouldn't hear the kids yell.Too many variables in this situation. Just a terrible tragedy.I pray the family can get through this.