Woman hurt after cigarette ignites fumes, causes explosion inside car
Paramedics are treating a woman for burns after a fire broke out in northwest Charlotte Monday afternoon, MEDIC said.
A spark from a lit cigarette mixed with vapors from a propane tank inside a car ignited an explosion, officials said.
It happened before 1:30 p.m. Monday in the driveway of a home on Wandering Creek Drive, which is tucked behind Pleasant Grove Road.
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The explosion caught the car on fire, which spread to the home.
Rashanda Broome was inside the car and escaped. She was taken to Atrium Health CMC and then to Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Burn Center.
‘Very traumatized’
Broome’s family members are splitting their time between Charlotte and Winston-Salem.
They said the mother of three is recovering from third-degree burns.
“She’s alive and well we thank God that she didn’t lose a limb or anything,” said Amanda Linder, Broome’s sister.
Linder expects Broome’s recovery to be long.
“She’s trying to just keep her pain under control,” Linder said. “And just her mental status. She’s very traumatized from the situation.”
Broome’s family said her daughters were at school when the fire started.
“We’re trying to just get everything situated with the kids and after losing everything,” Linder said. “Luckily, they have some spare clothes at my house.”
There were no other reported injuries.
Linder recognizes the outcome could’ve been much different.
“With everything considering, with the fire, the car, it could be worse, but we’re thankful that it’s not worse,” she said.
‘Shook everything’
A neighbor said he heard an explosion before flames took over the vehicle and spread to the home.
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Diego Ledbetter shared his Ring doorbell video of the fire. A woman could be seen getting in a car in the driveway. The gas ignited the explosion inside of the car and she opened the door to get out.
“The car was just on fire at one point in time,” Ledbetter said. “And then the car led to the house being on fire. It made a big noise. It shook everything and everything came out of the wall and the house.”
The fire spread quickly to the house.
The video footage shows a man running out of the house and trying to put out the flames with a fire extinguisher.
Ledbetter said he called 911.
“I saw my neighbor sit there,” Ledbetter told Channel 9. “His car had a propane tank in the back, and it blew it up.”
While the car is a total loss, the fire stayed in the front part of the home and in the attic.
The vinyl siding of a neighboring home was also damaged by heat from the flames.
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