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Rock Hill woman describes moments after finding car destroyed in massive Carowinds fire

ROCK HILL, S.C. — A Rock Hill woman was enjoying a day with her family inside Carolina Harbor, the waterpark at Carowinds, when flames erupted from cars in the amusement park’s parking lot on Friday afternoon.

Sherian Leonard told Channel 9 in an exclusive interview that she didn't find out her vehicle was involved in the massive fire until hours later.

PHOTOS: Multiple vehicles catch fire in Carowinds parking lot

[READ MORE: Fire spreads to several cars in Carowinds parking lot]

Now, she’s sorting through charred remains after her SUV was one of nearly a dozen vehicles destroyed.

From inside the park, Leonard said she could see the smoke. People were talking about the scene as multiple cars were consumed by fire.

Leonard said she didn’t realize her car was one of the burning cars until her sister sent her a text message with images from the news.

“It was a day to just go and relax and you don’t think something like that is going to happen,” Leonard said.

Leonard said she wasn’t able to salvage much, and that her granddaughter's car seat was also melted.

She said this was the second time her car has been totaled in eight months.

“You know, you just think it’s somebody else. There's thousands of cars out there,” Leonard said.

Charlotte firefighters are still investigating how the fire started.

Leonard said a good Samaritan stepped in to bring them water and snacks while they waited to get home.

"In my head, I'm going, ‘It’s just a vehicle,’ but for us, it’s more than that because we don’t have a replacement. To us, it's our life,” Leonard said. “Other people were standing around and it was their cars on fire too, but it was kind of like, ‘I've got full coverage,’ but for me, I didn't have that luxury.*

Fire officials said 11 vehicles were destroyed, some of them dissolved to nothing.

Leonard was left with only a shell of her SUV.

“I'm thinking, ‘Oh, well my car was totaled in a parking lot eight months ago, what are the chances that it would happen again?’”

Through the molten mess, Leonard found a small miracle, that her late grandfather's pouch was still intact.

“God knew what I needed to keep me going,” she said. “At this point, I just have to say God has a reason.  I don’t know what it is.”