Foul play is not suspected in a car fire that broke out at the BP gas station at Highway 69 and Hughes Road near New Hope on Monday.
The driver, Rocques Lowe, had apparently borrowed the car from Jeremy Winston and stopped to fill up the tank. While the car was attached to the gas lines, components under the hood caught fire and caused a blaze that melted the face of the pump and scorched the overhead canopy.
“The guy who owned the car came to the scene and told the firefighters he had loaned the car to (Lowe),” said Lowndes County Chief Deputy Greg Wright.
Police are looking into the matter but do not expect to press any charges
“We don”t suspect any foul play or anything like that,” Wright said. “There is damage, but if it was an accident, I”d think it would be more the responsibility of the vehicle”s owner.”
Deputy Darrell Nabors responded to the scene and made sure no one was in or around the gas station.
“Once we found out the store had been evacuated, we just shut the traffic down and waited until the fire department came and got it out,” Nabors said. He added that any further action would be civil, not criminal.
“As far as a criminal act, there wasn”t anything at the time,” Nabors said. “It”s going to fall back on the insurance holder in the vehicle. That”s probably who would be liable if the store owners were to sue for that.”
Lowndes County firefighters responded, and within half an hour they had stopped the fire from causing any major damage in the form of an explosion. The car was totaled.
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