Traffic was jammed up on Hwy 124 earlier than usual, starting at about 3 o'clock. I was running some errands, buying some essentials [that I now realize I completely forgot about]. Not having to be anywhere, I wasn't in a rush.
Coming up on a jammed intersection at Tree Lane, I decided to hold back at the traffic light, letting the intersection clear up. There wasn't enough space on the other side, and knowing that the light would soon turn red, I didn't want to be the idiot left in the middle, blocking the traffic flow.
Sure enough, the light turns red, and there is one overly-ambitious motorist that shot into the intersection at the last minute. "And NOW it's time to play our FAVORITE childhood game...Degenerate-homosapien-in-the-middle!" as the cars from the adjacent road honk and try to squeeze past the inconsiderate driver.
Finally, the intersection gets cleared. As I'm waiting for the light to turn green, I see a glint of orange off to my right. What was that? I look over to see nothing but Boomer's blue brother (another Honda Element).
Then I see it.
Bright orange flames were licking out from the underside of the car, a liquid of some sort dripping to the ground, and smoke collecting under the hood. The older gentleman in the driver's seat doesn't seem to notice, as there is a breeze carrying the smoke away from the car.
Quick thinking, I pull through the red light, whip out in front of his car (not moving), blocking his lane of travel. I honk at the unaware driver, who is initially confused until I open up my window, yelling and waving at him to "GET OUT OF THE CAR! IT'S ON FIRE!!!!"
The sprightly old man gets out of his car and takes a quick glance to determine the origin of the flame. I then move my car out of the road and stop on a curb, getting out to check that the man is okay (traffic is still moving).
By the time I get to him, he's already retrieved a towel from the trunk and is on the ground next to his car, whipping at the flames!
"It's okay! It's okay!" he says to me. I'm still not understanding why he's fighting a car fire with a towel.
"It's not gas!" he says, still going at the now-diminishing flames, ash flying out from under the car.
As it turns out, there was some kind of brush or foliage stuck under the car, sitting right on top of the catalytic converter, and consequently combusted under the high heat generated by the car's exhaust.
The man then crawls out from being nearly under the car. "Thank you SO much!" he says, hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath.
"I smelled something, but I didn't know what it was or where it was coming from! I'm just glad you caught it when you did! If you hadn't stopped me, it could've quite easily turned into something MUCH worse!"
He popped the hood, motioning for the traffic to go around him. Then, assuring me that he would be okay, he thanked me again, and I was on my way.
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