By Mason Edwards, Contributing Reporter for the Herald-News
Flames and smoke billowed out of a silver sedan’s engine bay on Thursday, March 3. Parked outside Drip coffee shop, baristas first noticed the vehicle fire from their drive-thru.
DFD sprays behind the headlight with water. (Photo by Mason Edwards)
According to the vehicle’s owner, Andrew Wilkins, 47, an employee handed him their fire extinguisher. Wilkins put out the fire, but it continued to reignite until firefighters arrived.
While the car still smoldered, Wilkins theorized about what possibly caused the fire.
“I changed the bulb, just like, 15 minutes ago,” Wilkins said. “The one on the left wasn’t burnt out, but I changed it just to match them. That’s the one it looks like where the fire started.”
As three firetrucks rushed to the scene with lights and sirens, onlookers from nearby buildings stepped out to watch. Dennis Harden, Creed Newby and Steven Waldron doused the engine bay with water and foam, cooling the metal and plastic down enough to remove Wilkins’ battery.
From Sale Creek, Wilkins drove to Dayton for coffee, sipping on his drink while he wrote stories for the Chattanooga Times Free Press. Wilkins had the vehicle, a 2004 Acura TSX, for less than a year. He just completed a road trip throughout the southeast.
“We’ve had some good times, but this might be the end of the road for Ruby,” Wilkins said about his car.
Wilkins made it home safely, and his vehicle currently sits in a mechanic’s shop.
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