Hannah Haseloff | Lariat Photographer
By Rachel Leland
Staff Writer
A car caught fire sometime before 8 a.m. Wednesday morning on the third floor of a parking garage near the Baylor Social Work Building on Washington Ave.
A passerby noticed some steam coming from a Buick Regal as the woman left her car to go to the offices where she worked on the third floor.
Someone called the Waco Fire Department at 8:07 a.m. and the firefighters arrived at the scene 57 seconds after the call.
“Because of the atmosphere this morning it really make the smoke hang down low when tires burn you get a lot of smoke. It was burning pretty good,” said acting Assistant Fire Chief J.C Monroe, who was at the site.
No one was injured and no cars were parked near the vehicle that caught on fire, Monroe said.
Maintenance Technician William Howell said that he is responsible for cleaning up the soot and residue the fire left behind.
“I was trying to take care of the building so it wouldn’t take any smoke in. Luckily it didn’t,” Howell said. “they had to wash off the parking garage but as far as structural damage it looks like it is in the clear.”
The woman’s car was towed and the half of the third floor was blocked off. Normal traffic procedures were restored later Wednesday.
According to the U.S Fire Administration 22.5% of vehicular fires were caused by equipment failure in 2011. Monroe said the malfunction that caused the fire was probably electrical.
