ROCKINGHAM — Maurice McNeil had been having problems with the Dodge Durango he was driving, but didn’t expect it to catch fire.
He was returning from an auto parts store early Thursday afternoon with a friend and his toddler son in the vehicle when he had trouble making it up the hill near Old Charlotte Road, west of Rockingham.
McNeil pulled into the parking lot of an old gas station, parking near the pump. He said he heard a “pop,” then saw smoke coming from the hood. When he got out to check, McNeil said he heard fire crackling and called for help.
As he waited, flames started to peek out from the hood.
Brandon Bowers, a firefighter with Cordova Fire and Resecue, was the first on the scene. He walked around the vehicle several times as the fire spread from under the hood, through the floorboard into the cab.
The front half of the SUV was fully engulfed in flames, having been burning for at least 10 minutes, before the first fire truck arrived — black smoke billowing out over U.S. 74 Business.
“It scared me a little bit,” McNeil said. “I thought it was gonna blow.”
Cordova Fire Chief Ray Webb pulled up around the same time as the fire truck, running out with the hose as soon as it was hooked up to douse the flames. He then handed the hose over to Bowers who continued spraying, with his head enveloped by thick smoke.
Electrical sparks flew from the floorboard as firefighters worked to put out the flames.
A truck from the East Rockingham Fire Department soon arrived for mutual aid.
As the fire was extinguished and the smoke cleared, the damage to the Durango was evident. Both front tires had blown and partially melted. The inside was completely burned out, with nothing left of the seats but the metal frames.
After crews left the scene, the charred remains of the vehicle were towed away.
Reach reporter William R. Toler at 910-817-2675 and follow him on Twitter @William_r_toler.
