A good Samaritan has come to the aid of a motorist whose car had burst into flames on the side of the road.
Matthew Bowser, 36, from Lincoln, was driving along Sacksilby Road in Lincoln when he saw a BMW parked across the road with smoke coming out of its bonnet.
Matthew, owner of cleaning company MB Complete Clean, used equipment from the back of his van to contain the fire until firefighters arrived.
He said the incident, which happened at around 4pm on Monday, July 22, could have been much worse if he had not been lucky enough to drive by.
“I walked past him and thought ‘I can’t leave’ so I went around the roundabout and parked behind him.”
When Matthew reached the car, flames were already pouring out of the bonnet. After using up four jerry cans in the van, Matthew realised the engine was still blazing.
“I got out my window cleaning pressure washer, turned the pressure up to full – 100psi – and sprayed it into the engine bay,” he said.
“We have a 500-litre tank in our van. As it happened, I had filled the barrel so I could help.”
Matthew worked to contain the fire until firefighters arrived, who then put out the remaining flames and made sure the flames didn’t flare up again.
“The car was a total loss but it would have probably exploded if I wasn’t there,” he said. “One of the firefighters told me it was an electrical fault.”
Matthew said he didn’t think he had done anything special and would do it again if he had the chance.
“If I was in that situation, I really hope someone would stop me,” he said.
“I’m a bit shocked that someone drove over. I can understand the fire in the car because there’s nothing they can do, but there are fire extinguishers in the truck so they should be able to help.”
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