Traffic cameras in Washington captured the breathtaking moment a man stopped to take a selfie just minutes after his car caught fire.
Just before 2 a.m. Friday morning, the Washington State Department of Transportation captured on their street traffic cameras a car engulfed in flames on the shoulder of Interstate 5 near 73rd Street East. ABC news 4 reported.
In the footage, the unnamed man appears to be casually walking around in his lit RAV4, seemingly surveying the scene.
At one point the driver steps even closer to the fire and opens the driver’s door.
He stays so close to his vehicle that it looks like the fire is about to engulf him.
Traffic cameras in Washington captured the moment an unnamed man staggered into the rightmost lane of a highway before apparently taking a selfie with the raging fire
Just before 2 a.m. Friday morning, the Washington State Department of Transportation captured a car engulfed in flames on the shoulder of Interstate 5 on their street traffic cameras.
Just seconds before emergency services arrived to put out the fire, the man appears to stumble into the rightmost lane of the highway before holding up his phone and taking a selfie with the raging fire in the background.
He then walks back to the barrier and sits down as emergency services flashing lights approach the scene.
As firefighters leave their truck and drive towards the blaze, the man appears unable to sit still and moves around continuously before parking himself back on the barrier and dropping his head onto his lap.
The situation appears to escalate when the fireball begins emitting a series of explosions and sparks just moments after firefighters arrive.
Huge clouds of red and black smoke begin to saturate the frame as firefighters hose down the vehicle, seemingly bringing the incident under control within minutes.
As firefighters spent the last few seconds of the footage fully extinguishing the blaze, the man can be seen talking to a soldier before reversing and trying to sit back down on the barrier.
In the footage, the unnamed man appears to be casually walking around in his burning RAV4
At one point the driver steps even closer to the fire and opens the driver’s door
But just a second later he stands back up and turns around as the soldier appears to handcuff him.
The SUV was towed away immediately after the flames were extinguished.
Wyatt Pearson, a Washington State Patrol trooper, told ABC that no one was injured in the ordeal.
But the driver was arrested at the scene on suspicion of driving under the influence and resisting arrest.
Officers later found drugs and drug paraphernalia in the man’s car.
He was later booked into jail, where he was charged with driving under the influence, resisting arrest, drug possession and possession of drug paraphernalia.
The cause of the explosion is not known at this time, but authorities are investigating how the fire started.
The unnamed man is then seen in the footage stumbling into the far right lane of the highway
Huge clouds of red and black smoke began to saturate the frame as firefighters hosed down the vehicle, seemingly bringing the incident under control within minutes.
Huge clouds of red and black smoke began to saturate the frame as firefighters hosed down the vehicle, seemingly bringing the incident under control within minutes.
Car fires are quite rare. According to figures from Statistics Netherlands, approximately 174,000 car fires were reported across the country in 2021. Statistical.
The most common cause of such fires is when flammable liquids, including gasoline and oil, accidentally ignite due to a spark, an overheated engine or a hot exhaust, according to Dulaney Lauer Thomas.
Many flammable liquids can easily evaporate, including fumes and fumes from the car. Even if there is no leak in the gas tank, sometimes the fumes from the tank can be enough to create a flame large enough to travel back to the tank and ignite the fuel.
In a similar way, oil fumes in a car’s engine are specifically designed to ignite, all with the help of the engine’s spark plugs.
If that same ignition is not controlled and too much vapor is emitted, the possibility of an explosion is on the table.
And of course, electronic gadgets and technology that make up most of today’s cars can carry the risk of ignition. Radios, power windows and seats, sunroofs and heated seats all require electricity to function.
If a single electrical wire is damaged or malfunctioning, there is a chance of an electrical fire.
This can lead to the creation of a spark that causes a fire in the wiring or behind the dashboard. It can also ignite upholstery and other flammable items inside the vehicle.
A driver convicted in court of driving under the influence faces a driver’s license suspension of 90 days to four years.
