The Perry Volunteer Fire Department responded to a vehicle fire in the parking lot of the Assembly of God Church, 2313 First Avenue in Perry, about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Eddy Mortensen, 18, of Panora, said he and his girlfriend, Allie Hopkins, 16, of Perry, had left the church and were driving south on First Avenue when they noticed smoke coming from the dashboard of the 1995 Chevrolet Monte Carlo.
Mortensen, a senior at Panorama who plays on Perry’s soccer team, said he “decided to return to the church in case it got worse.” It did. Flames quickly spread into the passenger compartment shortly after the pair had parked the car and walked away.
Firefighters quickly brought the blaze under control but not until the vehicle was completely consumed. During the fire, the driver’s air bag exploded from the steering wheel and landed nearly 100 feet away. Fortunately, no one was injured either in the fire or by the rocketing air bag.
ThePerryNews.com was on the scene, with photos by both Jim Caufield and Jeff Webster. Caufield caught the early stages of the fire on the video seen below.
