Fire Department

Engine 10 was dispatched for a possible vehicle fire. En route, E10 was informed that the fire was extinguished. Upon arrival, E10 met the owner of the vehicle.  She said she smelled a "rubber or tire" odor on the way to work, but did not locate the source of the odor.  Later in the afternoon, the odor was still present, but no smoke noted. When they arrived home they parked the car and went inside. When they returned to the vehicle a short time later, it was full of smoke. Engine 10 found a jacket on the ground with multiple burn holes in it. The vehicle owner had pulled it from the rear seat on the passenger side and put it out with water. There was a small burn on the rear seat at the location of the seat belt release buttons. The seat belt release buttons had also melted to some degree. Cigarette butts were noted in the ashtray. Vehicle occupants denied smoking in the vehicle or improperly disposing of smoking materials. The rear passenger area was investigated, including folding the rear seats down. No smoking materials were located in the area that the coat was reported to be, including the area of the rear seat where the burn mark and melted seat belt receptacles were located. The owner also reported having some electrical problems.