Two friends were able to escape a car unharmed before it caught on fire near Twin Lakes on Wednesday night, Capital City Fire/Rescue Assistant Chief Ed Quinto said.
The two men were driving a 1990 Ford Bronco 2 near Twin Lakes at around 9 p.m. Wednesday, Quinto said, when the front right brake got stuck and they pulled off into a parking lot near the northernmost lake of Twin Lakes. One of the men was the owner, Quinto said, and the other was a friend of the owner. They had been working on the car, Quinto said, and they knew there was a problem with that brake.
The caliper — the part that squeezes the brake pad against the rotor to stop a vehicle — on that brake was stuck, Quinto said, and the men were hoping the brake would cool down. Unfortunately for them, the heat started a fire and the car went up in flames. Quinto said the car is a total loss.
Quinto said it was clear that the fire started on the front right of the car because the tire was melted by the time responders arrived on the scene. Both men were unharmed, Quinto said.
