Man escapes with burns after car bursts into flames in Gastonia

GASTONIA, N.C. — Firefighters said a man in Gastonia was able to escape from a car after it burst into flames.

Fire investigators said the man was driving on Union Road Wednesday night when he smelled something unusual, so he stopped the car and checked under the hood. Once he was sure there was nothing wrong there, he started to get back into the car and lit a cigarette.

That’s all it took to start a bigger problem.

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Security camera video shows him approaching the driver’s door when flames suddenly start shooting toward him. The video is from the Corner Store on Union Road, near Forestview High School.

Gigi Gebrekirirstos works at the store and saw the video, which was pulled for the firefighters investigating the incident.

“I was just shocked. I was surprised,” she said.

She can’t help but put herself in that driver’s place.

“I can’t image what I would have done,” she said.

Battalion Chief Jimmy Queen led the response for the Gastonia Fire Department.

“It could have been much worse. He’s very lucky,” he told Channel 9′s Ken Lemon over the phone.

The man walked away with burns on his arms.

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Queen said the man made two big mistakes. First, he had open containers of gas in the trunk of the car. Those vapors can spread quickly.

“[The vapors] permeate through the vehicle, or through a building, or wherever they are stored, and then one spark and they are ready to go,” Queen explained.

He said the second mistake was literally the trigger: He started to smoke a cigarette, and the spark from the lighter ignited those vapors. Firefighters had to use foam on the flames.

“Water won’t do it 100%,” Queen said. “That’s how dangerous it can be.”

Operators of the convenience store are thankful this happened early in the morning when the store was closed, instead of during store hours when other cars would have been parked near that one.

Union Road firefighters helped Gastonia with the incident.

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