CALDWELL COUNTY, N.C. — Two people were hospitalized with first and second-degree burns from an explosion inside their car Friday in Caldwell County.
It happened in the Gamewell community, south of Lenoir, along Highway 18. Officials say it started when someone lit a cigarette after a child had been spraying a can of compressed air inside the car.
Gamewell Superette shared video of the car as it pulled into their parking lot shortly after the explosion. There was so much damage to the car, the people inside had to climb out of the window to get out. Firefighters said every window was blown out by the time they arrived.
The family reached out over the weekend to say that a child had been spraying the aerosol in an effort to clean the car, and the windows were up because it was so hot.
Neighbors and people who work nearby say they actually felt the explosion and couldn’t believe all the damage there.
“I think that it was very dangerous and that the car was gonna explode because they were screaming,” Ricardo Leon, a witness and nearby restaurant owner, said. “They were crying, so I was worried about it.”
Channel 9’s Dave Faherty spoke with the fire chief who responded to the scene. Tune in to Eyewitness News at 5 p.m. for his advice after seeing the damage.
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