Shortly after 10 a.m. Wednesday, a gray Pontiac Grand Prix caught fire outside of the Hampton building in University Court beside the Newman Catholic Center.

The car was parked in a space facing the apartment building.

Natasha Cox, a junior elementary education major, lives in an apartment on the second floor of the building. Cox said she was sitting in her room right above where the car was located when she smelled smoke.

“I smelled smoke and looked outside and saw the car on fire,” Cox said. “I was going to call 911 but saw someone outside on their phone.”

The University Police and Charleston Fire departments arrived on the scene at about 10:10 a.m. to put out the fire and told residents to evacuate, despite the fact that the fire alarm had not gone off.

Residents of the building were allowed to re-enter at 10:25 a.m.

“I was shocked and worried about my car,” Cox said.

Her car was also parked in the lot.

Firefighters were unable to open the hood of the car without the aid of tools and ended up using a sledgehammer and saw. They also broke the driver’s side window in order to gain better access to the fire. The fire was contained to the front of the car.

Detective Kent Martin, who is in charge of investigations for the UPD, said the fire seemed to be accidental. The cause of the fire was later ruled undetermined.

“It appears to have started somewhere in the engine area,” Martin said. “There doesn’t appear have been any foul play.”

The department called the owner of vehicle, Kelsie Schneck, a junior family and consumer sciences major, but she did not answer her phone.

“A police officer came into my class in McAfee and said they needed to talk to me,” Schneck said. “They told me my car was on fire, and I just thought ‘oh my gosh, what do I do?’”

Schneck said she burst into tears as she was transported to University Court in a police car.

“The whole class stared at me as we drove past, probably thinking ‘what did she do?’” Schneck said.

Prior to the fire, Schneck’s friend, Sarah Neill, a junior family and consumer sciences major, had driven the car from the McAfee Gymnasium to University Court and found out about the fire when Schneck called her.

“It was driving just fine,” Neill said. “I’m kind of in shock right now.”

After the fire was extinguished, Schneck called her insurance company, State Farm, and had the car towed.

“I called my dad, and he thought I was joking about the whole thing,” Schneck said.

Amy Wywialowski can be reached at 581-2812 or alwywialowski@eiu.edu

There has been a correction made to this article.

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