Photo courtesy of Nick Butler
Brought to you by WBIW News and Network Indiana
Last updated on Monday, December 31, 2018
(IRELAND) - A car fire at the Spuds Food Mart destroyed a car, its contents and damaged the pumps and awning Friday.
The fire was reported at 5:10 p.m.
Photo courtesy of Nick Butler
Deputies with the Dubois County Sheriff's Department shut down State Road 56 so firefighters could battle the blaze.
According to Ireland Volunteer Fire Department Chief Stan Seifert, 20-year-old Ashley Harris of Pike County had stopped to fill up her 2014 Ford Focus before driving back to Indianapolis. After filling up the gas tank, she went inside the station to pay for the fuel. When Harris returned to her car, she noticed smoke in the interior of the vehicle. Then Harris saw flames shooting out of the back of the car.
Photo courtesy of Nick Butler
Harris was able to rescue her pet rabbit and cat from the vehicle but nothing else.
Chief Seifert says as firefighters attempted to put out the blaze it kept restarting underneath the vehicle due to a gas leak from the fuel tank.
The fire was finally knocked down, and the car was pulled from out from under the awning allowing firefighters to extinguish the blaze.
The fire destroyed the car and all of its contents. There was also damage to gas pumps and the awning had heat damage.
Chief Seifert says the quick thinking of an employee helped. They hit the emergency shut-off switch on the side of the building to the pumps stopping the flow of gas to the tanks, or the fire could have been worse.
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