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Blaze destroys vehicle

Fire did not spreadĀ at gas station

By Scott Bellile


Nobody was injured but a car is a total loss after it burned up outside the Kwik Trip North gas station in New London Monday, Dec. 26.

New London Fire Department was paged to 984 N. Shawano St. shortly before 6 p.m. for a report of a car on fire.

Jake Dishno, fire lieutenant, said the driver finished grocery shopping at Festival Foods and was driving past Kwik Trip when his dashboard began smoking. The man pulled up to the front doors of Kwik Trip before realizing that was unsafe given the proximity of the gas tanks.

He instead parked next to the public air compressor station, located south of the building.

Dishno said the man made the right call in pulling off to where he did. Given how windy it was that night, things could have ended badly had the car been closer to the fueling tanks.

ā€œWe put it out safely,ā€ Dishno said. ā€œThe fire didnā€™t spread to anything else.ā€

At the scene, embers skidded across the pavement toward the building and blew in the opposite direction toward the air compressor. Bursts could be heard as the tires exploded. The airbags also blew out and shot out of the car, Dishno said.

No damage was visible on the air compressor afterward. There wasnā€™t a safety risk to the car burning alongside the air compressor, Dishno said, because the air system used for inflating car and bicycle tires is likely built underground.

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