Vehicle fire at Columbia Moto Mart
The Columbia Fire Department responded shortly before 11:30 a.m. Thursday to a vehicle fire at the Moto Mart gas station on Southwoods Drive off Route 3.
Flames were seen shooting from a white minivan parked next to one of the gas pumps upon firefighter arrival. Fortunately, the flames were extinguished within a short amount of time before spreading to the nearby gas pump.
No injuries were reported in the blaze.
A local woman pulled her Ford minivan into the gas station and smelled something burning, Columbia Assistant Fire Chief Jim Broshears said.
“All of the sudden, smoke started coming out of it,” he said. “The whole engine compartment was on fire when we got there.”
Broshears praised the quick thinking of a Moto Mart clerk inside the gas station who hit a switch that shuts down all of the gas pumps.
Moto Mart also evacuated the area during the incident, and Columbia police assisted with blocking off entrances to the gas station during the incident.