Woman, teen escape car fire
Staff writer
A woman and a teen were all that escaped from a car that caught fire at 4:02 p.m. Friday on US-56 between Falcon and Goldenrod Rds.
Driver Crystal S. Stryker, 31, Hillsboro, and Maria Zimmer, 13, Hillsboro, were the only ones in the 1995 Oldsmobile 88, which was owned by Mark S. Conner, Hillsboro. No injury was reported for Stryker or Zimmer.
“It’s fortunate that they weren’t hurt at all, other than their car burning up, and that hurts,” Hillsboro fire chief Ben Steketee said.
Stryker had heard a pop and smelled gasoline right before the vehicle caught fire, according to accident reports.
Steketee thinks their fuel line might have broken.
Deputy Larry Starkey was first on the scene. By 4:06 p.m. he reported that the vehicle was totally in flames.
“They’re not going to have any trouble seeing it,” he said over police radio. “It’s totally engulfed.”
Starkey and other law enforcement were able to help by limiting passersby.
“There was quite a bit of traffic,” Steketee said. “The sheriff’s department got there before the fire department. He had the eastbound traffic stopped, so that wasn’t much of an issue for us.”
The two were able to get the car off US-56 before the fire started.
Eastbound travel was halted at 4:09 p.m., and after 12 minutes of waiting the line of vehicles stretched nearly to Eagle Rd.