Karl & I walked out the front door of my apartment on our way to see Robin Hood: Men in Tights. I looked down at the carport and noticed a blue convertible trying to pull into one of the unoccupied parking spaces in the carport. I knew the car didn't belong.
This is one of my pet peeves. "That bugs me when people take other people's parking spaces." I thought as I watched the convertible stop part way into the parking space. Suddenly, I noticed flames shooting out from under the driver's feet. The car was on fire! And parked immediately outside my front door.
I showed Karl where the fire extinguisher was and went inside to call 911.
I came back outside to find Karl with empty fire extinguisher, standing next to the smoking car. The driver & his date were also staring at the car. Karl asked if I had a hose. Yes, I had a garden hose but no idea where a water tap might be. We looked. Didn't find anything. The fire department still hadn't arrived. I went back inside and called again.
Now things were progressing beyond smoke. The fire had started somewhere under the engine and had been protected by the car's hood. Things were progressing beyond 'smoke' to actual flames. My downstairs neighbor's car was next to the convertible. I started pounding on her door but there was no answer.
Finally, the fire department arrived and started to work on the fire. By this time, the convertible was fully engulfed in flame. The carport (wood) was also burning. My neighbor's car (middle of this picture) was about to become toast. By the time everything was done, five cars would be lost, including a Corvette which melted. The carport was destroyed. My house numbers melted. If there had been any wind that day, it would have been my house, as well.
I later found out that this had been the driver's first date with a woman who lived around the corner from me. He had brought his new convertible to impress his date. This is a kit car he had been working on for five years. Finally, the car was ready for its first journey. Unfortunately, he hasn't spent enough time on the fuel lines. When he had pulled away from his date's house, they had smelled gas. They'd pulled into the carport to turn around and try to find out what smelled like gas. By that time, it was too late. The fire had already started.
They showed up together the next morning to look at the damage. I'm not sure what that means about the success of the date. It certainly was a firey start.
Oh, and Karl & I did make it to a later showing of the Robin Hood movie. The movie opened with flaming arrows being shot into houses with thatch roofs. It seemed appropriate for the day.
