A bad morning for a Juneau family quickly got worse, Capital City Fire/Rescue Assistant Chief Tod Chambers said.
Owners of a Jeep Liberty had just gotten back to their Gruening Park Apartment home Tuesday after a trip to the hospital when they looked back and saw a small fire in the car, Chambers said. They had noticed a smell earlier, and called CCFR at about 5:27 a.m. Tuesday when they saw the fire.
By the time CCFR personnel arrived, Chambers said, the car was engulfed in flames and the fire proved to be “stubborn.” It took a long time and 700 gallons of water to eventually knock down the fire, Chambers said. Nobody was harmed and nothing else was damaged, he said.
“Thank goodness there wasn’t really anything around it,” Chambers said.
The car is insured, he said. The cause of the fire hasn’t been determined yet, Chambers said.
The owners were wise to stay back and let the responders take care of the job instead of trying to fight it on their own, Chambers said. He pointed out that fire extinguishers are good for knocking down small fires but are overmatched when it comes to large blazes or vehicle fires that involve metals and chemicals.
He pointed out that with winter arriving, people should check to make sure their vehicles are in good running condition. And though there aren’t a ton of people who use engine heaters here, Chambers said people who do use them need to make sure they’re in good condition.
• Contact reporter Alex McCarthy at 523-2271 or amccarthy@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @akmccarthy.
A Jeep Liberty is pictured after a fire in the early morning of Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018. (Courtesy Photo | Capital City Fire/Rescue)
