By Medha Acharya | Staff Writer

At approximately 5:10 p.m. this Friday evening, a Mercury Sable’s engine caught on fire, but the sole person in the car escaped unhurt. The fire department arrived promptly to put out the flames.

“I was leaking gas by Safeway, so I was on my way to the mechanic when my engine blew,” the driver, who goes by Ro, said. “I just stopped the car at the signal and got out as fast as I could.”

Within a few minutes of the incident, the fire department was on the scene and quickly put out the rising flames. Two of the three lanes on Blacow were blocked off, allowing the firefighters to safely cut open the car to prevent further sparks from igniting.

Freshmen Rohith Kasar and Subaita Rahman were present at the scene, and were the first to notice that the car was on fire.

“We were walking down that road [Blacow] when I heard a thump, and when we turn, we see that the back half of the car is on fire and there are separate jets of fire coming from all four wheels,” said Kasar.

“So we yelled at him, and we were like, ‘Hey! Your car is on fire!’ and then he stops his car, opens his door and just runs out to the gas station and calls the cops,” added Rahman.

By the time the fire was extinguished, most of the front and back hood had been burned away.

“I was really scared when this happened, but now I’m just really angry because my car is really wrecked,” said Ro.