By Jason Klaiber
Staff Writer
The motor of freshman Jackson Underwood’s 2000 Chevrolet Impala malfunctioned and caught fire in the parking lot west of Shay and Loughlen Halls on Tuesday at 2:45 p.m.
“As soon as I turned the key in the ignition, there was a loud explosion type noise, like my car had backfired,” Underwood, an accounting major, said. “We frantically got the snow off the hood so we could lift it up, and once we did, we saw a fire.”
Jess McFall, a member of the facility maintenance yard crew, was plowing the sidewalk between Plassmann Hall and the William F. Walsh Science Center when he noticed the smoke rising from Underwood’s car. At first, McFall assumed a student was spinning his or her tires in an attempt to maneuver out of the snow. However, upon approaching the scene, he witnessed that the hood of the car was swallowed up in flames.
According to McFall, who spent 10 years as a volunteer fireman, he immediately called the Allegany Fire Department as well as St. Bonaventure’s Security Services.
“I suggested [calling] 911 during this so that if there [were] any type of insurance issues, the insurance company would have a fire report to go off,” McFall said.
He then removed the fire extinguisher located near the back door of the Walsh Science Center and popped the hood of the car. While Underwood remained on the phone with the fire department, one of his friends brought the fire under control with the extinguisher.
Michael Schneider, communication specialist of Safety and Security, proceeded to gather information about Underwood and his car, while taking pictures.
All patrols, including other security officers and all present divisions of the local fire department, cleared the scene by 3:02 p.m.
“I was pretty freaked out,” Underwood said. “We were all feeling the adrenaline. It was definitely scary seeing my car smoking and flames shooting out from under the hood.”
Underwood and two friends were planning a trip to Wal-Mart.
In the past decade McFall has spent working at St. Bonaventure, this was the second car fire that he has played a part in extinguishing. The first incident occurred when he was en route to his station as a housekeeper. He stopped to help extinguish a fire nearby the Hall of Fame Barbershop in Olean.
McFall said, “Things happen so fast [that] you just react and hope you do no more damage and everybody gets out safe.”
