Firemen extinguish an automobile fire in Bethel’s front parking lot during mid-afternoon daycare on Monday, Jan. 5.

She was in her car doing homework with her son when she saw the automobile pull up with smoke coming out of the hood, said eyewitness Mrs. Leavell.
The owner was concerned about a Bible still in the car, said Mary Morley, Bethel’s church secretary. The owner seemed very upset and in shock when she saw the flames in the car. When the owner “did not want to look at it”, Mrs. Morley took her into the auditorium.

Custodians Fred Morales and Daniel Henry and Coach Eric Lokker all attempted to contain the situation using fire extinguishers, but the fire resiliently kept burning until the firemen arrived and extinguished the fire.

When the firemen arrived they first made sure that their apparatus was set up in a safe position upwind so that the engineers would not be overcome by the smoke, said Captain Salerno of the Santa Ana fire department . The firemen then formed their “attack line” and used the water from the 500 gallon tank in the firetruck “to cool down the fire”. Once the fire was extinguished, the firemen investigated to find the origin of the fire. After questioning the vehicle’s owner, authorities determined that it was an accidental fire due to automobile malfunction.

The car was “totaled” with “nothing to salvage”, said Mrs. Morley.

Despite the damage to the vehicle, no one was hurt, and the firemen were able to contain the situation.