|
NEWS
| November 4, 2003
Police
Campus police car catches fire in
parking lot
Officials investigate why the
unoccupied vehicle went up in flames near the Pi Kappa Phi house.
 |
| Courtesy Photo: Mason Cooper |
| An unidentified UTA police officer checks
to make sure a police cruiser that caught fire Sunday
night is properly secured to a flatbed truck. |
|
By Christian
Ragunton
The Shorthorn staff
An unoccupied campus police vehicle caught fire Sunday evening on
Summit Avenue.
Pete Petersen, the officer driving the car, was on the back patio
of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity house around 9:15 p.m. when a fraternity
member notified him of the situation. The fire burned a hole through
the hood of the vehicle before being extinguished. It was towed
away from the scene half an hour after the fire started. Officials
on Monday did not have an estimate of how much the repairs will
cost.
Petersen rushed to the vehicle and pulled a fire extinguisher from
the trunk to put out the fire. According to witnesses, a loud bang
from underneath the hood sounded before Petersen could extinguish
the flames.
Shortly after the small explosion, several police officers arrived
at the scene to help tame the mild car fire while a few dozen surrounding
residents watched from their balconies and front yards.
Pi Kappa Phi fraternity member Brandon Harp said the officer was
on the back patio visiting some of the fraternity brothers.
Police Chief Bob Hayes and Assistant Chief James Ferguson did not
return calls for comment. Later, Ferguson said through a university
spokeswoman that Petersen was issuing a traffic ticket at the house.
Petersen declined to comment.
According to computer science junior William Penton, an Arbor Oaks
resident, two fire extinguishers were used to fight the smoke and
flames.
Firetrucks from the Arlington Fire Department arrived minutes after
police officials snuffed out the remaining embers and hosed down
the smoking vehicle, he said.
“The car was still smoking, and the fire department took over
and put it out pretty quickly,” he said. “They hosed
down everything under the hood.”
University spokeswoman Donna Darovich said that although the cause
of the fire is still under investigation, the vehicle experienced
electrical problems earlier in the day, which officers suspect caused
the vehicle’s sudden combustion. Other theories conclude a
damaged engine compartment and a defective exhaust manifold may
have caused it.
Fire Marshal Shufford Parr was unavailable for comment.
According to witnesses, both campus police and the Arlington Fire
Department contained the fire in less than 10 minutes.
|
|
