Photos: Car goes up in flames on pizza run in Virginia Beach

By Roy Bahls
The Virginian-Pilot
© June 27, 2008

VIRGINIA BEACH

Gaither Brooks stopped for gas on his way to pick up pizza for his wife and grandchildren. When he got to the pumps about 5:30 p.m. Friday at the 7-Eleven at the corner of Holland Road and Windsor Oaks Boulevard in Virginia Beach, he noticed smoke coming from his car.

“When I pulled in, the engine was smoking,” Brooks said. “After I opened the hood, I could see some fire coming from the passenger side.” He slammed the hood down, and with the help of some bystanders, pushed the car about 40 feet away from the pump.

Soon his 1998 Chrysler Seabring convertible was totally engulfed in flames. He called his wife Brenda who joined him across the parking lot from the burning car.

“Now we really have a convertible,” Brenda said.

The fire department extinguished the flames, but there was little left.

The couple said it was a blessing that no one was hurt.

After the fire was out, Brenda went to see if anything survived.

“Everything burned except the Bibles,” she said, recovering about eight from a paper box in the trunk. “That’s another blessing right there.” Gaither said he still planned to go get pizza for the grandkids.

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