August 24, 2018—An auto repair shop owner’s quick thinking helping save his O'Fallon, Mo., business from being damaged and anyone else from injury after an SUV caught fire and exploded on his parking lot, reported Fox 2 Now.
The incident unfolded at Jimmy’s Automotive. Witnesses recorded black smoke and flames shooting out of the vehicle a few minutes after noon Thursday.
Vicki Schneider, president of Schneider Construction Services, said she and her employees heard a car alarm beeping, which made them look.
“That kept going on, keeps beeping. So we walked out and that’s when we saw the car on fire,” she said.
Jimmy, the owner of the repair shop, said they were working on the SUV’s air conditioning unit when they saw smoke and flames in the car. That’s when Jimmy jumped in and got the vehicle away from the shop.
“We struggled to get it out because it was totally engulfed in flames. We were trying to make sure everybody was safe here,” he said.
Fortunately, nobody was hurt and no other cars caught fire.
O’Fallon fire crews raced to the scene and put the fire out before it was able to spread to anything else.
