Middletown driver escapes after car catches fire

Jan. 5—The driver of a 2007 Audi A4 got out of his vehicle safely after it caught fire Tuesday afternoon in Middletown, according to fire officials.

Ryan McDougall, 30, of Carlisle, told firefighters his car had been having some mechanical issues. As he was driving on Carmody Boulevard toward Germantown Road, the engine shut off, the brakes went out and he lost control of the car.

He drove off the road into the grassy area.

Soon the inside of the car was filed with smoke, McDougall told firefighters.

When firefighters arrived around 4 p.m., McDougall was out of the vehicle and flames were visible under the hood and under the car, said Capt. Frank Baughman from the Middletown Division of Fire. The efforts of the firefighters were hampered because there are no hydrants close so they transported water from another hydrant.

Baughman said firefighters couldn't get "a good steam" of water to the fire because the Audi A4 sits is so low to the ground. Foam was used to extinguish the fire, Baughman said. The vehicle was a total loss, he said.

McDougall was the only occupant and no firefighters were injured, Baughman said.