CEDAR CITY – A grandmother who was dropping her grandbaby off to her son Friday night was surprised when she went to leave his home and found her car engulfed in flames.
Authorities responded at around 10 p.m. to the vehicle fire located at 101 North 1850 West. No injuries were reported.
The grandmother, who wanted to remain anonymous, said after dropping off her grandchild she walked outside and saw her car on fire with the inside of it filling with smoke.
“We were getting ready to leave and I walked outside and said, holy crap the car is on fire,” she said. “I had dogs inside the car and I hurried up and opened the doors and they jumped out. Thank God they were okay.”
Cedar City Fire Engineer Travis Fails said the fire started in the engine area, however, he did not know what caused it.
The grandmother put oil in the engine prior to taking the baby home, but Fails said he didn’t think that would have started the fire.
“We’re not sure what caused it,” Fails said. “She put oil in it earlier but I don’t think that would have had anything to do with it, but we’re not sure right now what happened.”
Crews were able to extinguish the fire quickly, except for inside the vehicle under the dash where flames continued to burn for some time.
The vehicle is considered a total loss, Fails said.
The car was located in the parking lot of an apartment complex when it caught fire but did not spread past the vehicle itself.
The grandmother was in good spirits and said she was just grateful the fire didn’t happen when she was driving, and especially while she had her grandchild with her.
“We were on our way to Enoch and decided to stop and drop the baby off before going home,” she said. “What if we would have kept going and the car would’ve started on fire when we were driving with the baby inside. I’m just grateful it was just the car that caught on fire and no one was hurt.”
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