Someone called the office to report a car explosion at Lees station with flames 20 feet high. I overheard my coworker talking about and said "It was probably a car backfiring".
The only person who reported it was someone who poste in the livejournal with photos of a smoking engine. uh huh.
If you're referring to something that happened around 1-2 am this morning, quite a few people on 613crew saw and heard that.
If you want to see pictures (which include pictures of the car engulfed in flames), someone posted some here.
The flames were certainly not 20 feet high. More like maybe licking the air a foot or two above the hood of the SUV. There WAS a fire though. By the time I got downstairs with my camera, it had been put out. The elevators (as some of you may know), in 180 lees are hella slow, and I got the the ground floor, realized I forgot my camera, and had to go back up.
I also have a not-so-great point and shoot digicam. It was dark, and since the lady that owned the car was there, and freaking out a bit, I took pictures discreetly, not using the flash, because I didn't think it was right to make a spectacle of the situation in front of her.
So I'm sorry my pictures weren't so great. It was the best I could do, given the situation. I know at least one other person was taking pics or video with his phone, but I can't imagine they would be much better.
The variety of people reports I got on the topic sounded a mite exagerated. That sounds more in line with what really happened (when someone says the flames were shooting out movie style, I get skeptical). Does anyone know the cause?
I haven't heard anything yet. Since there were no news crews there, I would expect maybe only a small blurb in the paper or online. I haven't seen anything online, and I didn't get a chance to grab the paper today, but I still really want to find out what kind of mechanical/electrical failure would have caused this.
I worked at a gas station, so I've seen a number of wonky things
a) someone leaves something under the hood, fire erupts b) piston ring wears out and when the spark plug ignites the gas, it also hits the fuel tank (I think more of the car would be gone) c) hole in the gas tank causes interior of car to fill with fumes (more common than you think). Anything from static electricity to the clock could ignite it. (One more reason to leave the windows down).
If the car wasn't on, it was more than likely intentionally set. Cars don't typically spontaneously combust.
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The only person who reported it was someone who poste in the livejournal with photos of a smoking engine. uh huh.
If you're referring to something that happened around 1-2 am this morning, quite a few people on
If you want to see pictures (which include pictures of the car engulfed in flames), someone posted some here.
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
I also have a not-so-great point and shoot digicam. It was dark, and since the lady that owned the car was there, and freaking out a bit, I took pictures discreetly, not using the flash, because I didn't think it was right to make a spectacle of the situation in front of her.
So I'm sorry my pictures weren't so great. It was the best I could do, given the situation. I know at least one other person was taking pics or video with his phone, but I can't imagine they would be much better.
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
a) someone leaves something under the hood, fire erupts
b) piston ring wears out and when the spark plug ignites the gas, it also hits the fuel tank (I think more of the car would be gone)
c) hole in the gas tank causes interior of car to fill with fumes (more common than you think). Anything from static electricity to the clock could ignite it. (One more reason to leave the windows down).
If the car wasn't on, it was more than likely intentionally set. Cars don't typically spontaneously combust.