A local high school girl’s car caught fire late Thursday morning when she parked on College Street near Mill Street, where Athens Police blocked traffic as firefighters put out the flames.
Though authorities at the scene said no one was injured and the damage was contained to the car, a visibly shaken Brianna Schaefer — a senior at Logan High School — said she was coming Uptown to have lunch with a friend who attends Ohio University.
Schaefer stood by making phone calls while firefighters tried to get inside her car and put out the fire, which appeared to be mostly coming from underneath the hood of the engine compartment.
“When I was like halfway here it started getting hard to turn and that’s why I parked it so fast,” Schaefer said, “and then it just started smoking and then there were women screaming at me that the smoke was black and that I needed to get out of the car.”
She said she got out and called 911.
The Athens Fire Department was dispatched at 10:53 a.m.
A crew had to break windows, force open the engine hood and then use a water hose to put out the fire.
AFD cleared the scene at 11:18 a.m.
At the scene, firefighter Matt Hull said his colleague Brian Mace, who joined AFD in January, was the one who put out the fire and was the “hero” of the day.
“We’ve only had a few fires since I’ve started here, but yeah, this was a pretty (big fire),” Mace said.
Later Thursday afternoon, Lt. Charles Adams confirmed the ’98 Chrysler Sebring was totaled. He added that many facts were still undetermined, including how the fire started.
“…A lot of times it’s due to improper maintenance, or lack of maintenance,” Adams said.
jj360410@ohiou.edu
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