Car catches fire in parking lot 7

Sophomore student’s blue BMW catches fire while waiting to go to class.

Photo+courtesy+of+Adam+Sacasa

Photo courtesy of Adam Sacasa

Joe Pye, Staff Reporter

Thursday April 21, 2016, around 2:30 p.m., three cars caught fire on the Boca Raton campus, just behind the Education Building on the north side of campus.

Christopher Budden, a sophomore pre-business major, was parked in his blue BMW 328 waiting for class when the car caught on fire. He escaped before the fire spread to two others parked next to it in Lot 7 in front of the Education Science building.

“I smelled something, so I got out and popped the hood … I got back in turned the A.C. on and smoke came out of the vents,” Budden said. “That’s when fire started leaking out from the floor board.”

A car was on fire in parking lot 7 on the Boca Raton campus, damaging the other cars near by. Photo by Joe Pye | Staff Reporter
A car was on fire in parking lot 7 on the Boca Raton campus, damaging the other cars near by. Photo by Joe Pye | Staff Reporter

Budden was on the phone with his Father sitting in the car explaining the smell to him in the car when the fire had started.

“He was telling me the car started smoking and wanted to know if it was steaming, when he said Dad it’s on fire,”  Russel Budden, Christopher’s father, said.

As of publication time, it was unclear what started the fire.

Shortly after, students from the Education Science building could hear the sirens of the Boca Raton Fire Rescue, and see the smoke and flames engulfing the car from their classroom windows.

Boca Raton Fire Rescue arrived on the scene shortly after the car caught fire. Photo by Joe Pye | Staff Reporter
Boca Raton Fire Rescue arrived on the scene shortly after the car caught fire. Photo by Joe Pye | Staff Reporter

“I saw fire, it started from the blue BMW it looked like it spread from the cabin,” Zack Jannotta sophomore international business major said.

“We heard the sirens and looked out and saw the car on fire,” Victoria James a junior hospitality management major said. “We didn’t see anyone around, just cops here and it caught on fire.”

The fire that started in the BMW spread to two vehicles on both side, on the right a black Nissan and the left a silver Honda.

Three cars were engulfed in the blaze. As of publication time, it is unclear what started the blaze. Photo by Joe Pye | Staff Reporter
Three cars were engulfed in the blaze. As of publication time, it is unclear what started the blaze. Photo by Joe Pye | Staff Reporter

“The car started smoking and before anyone knew it both cars got hit,” said Brian Walker a freshman social science education and owner of one of the cars that caught on fire.

No one in the fire was injured.

Check back in with upressonline.com for more details to come.  

Joe Pye is a staff writer for the University Press. For more information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him @Jpeg3189.