No injuries reported after vehicle catches fire on Mary Street

A homeowner’s car repair turned disastrous Tuesday evening – fortunately, no one was injured.
Gladewater first responders were dispatched to Mary Street about 8:25 p.m. on an initial report of an explosion in the 1200 block of Mary Street.
According to Gladewater Fire Chief Mike Simmons, the incident was initially reported as a home explosion with people trapped. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case.
“A guy was working on his vehicle, working on the electrical system,” Simmons confirmed, “when the vehicle caught fire.
“The explosion, we think, was one of the tires blowing.”
The homeowner immediately began dousing the fire using a garden hose, shouting to neighbors.
“They couldn’t tell where he was yelling from because of the smoke and stuff,” Simmons said. “They thought he might be trapped in the garage. It led to some confusion there in the initial moments.”
Granted, Simmons said, he’s grateful for everyone who made an effort to communicate the emergency to firefighters.
“We would much prefer people calling and giving us as much information so we can dispatch,” he added. “With someone possible being trapped we went ahead and dispatched mutual aid companies from other fire departments. We’d much rather go this way than be unprepared.”
Ultimately, there were no injuries and no major damage beyond the loss of the vehicle.
“There was some exposure to other vehicles and stuff but our guys got it extinguished pretty quickly.”