Cars explode on Prince William roads

A mother pulled her two children from a burning minivan this afternoon.

Their 2001 Nissan Quest caught fire at the intersection of Cardinal Drive and George Fyre Circle just before 4 p.m. in Woodbridge.

No one was injured in the blaze, but the children’s mother India Cutler was visibly shaken. Cutler was taking her children out to eat and was waiting to make a left turn from George Frye Circle on the Cardinal Drive. That’s when her minivan exploded. Flames engulfed the front of the vehicle and the front seats. Fire also damaged the middle of the vehicle where her children were sitting.

Fire crews were called to douse the blaze. They were able to save some of Cutler’s personal items including a notebook and purse.

“I guess we’ll eat in tonight,” said Cutler.

In a separate incident earlier in the day, at PT Cruiser caught fire near the intersection of Hoadly Road and Route 234. About noon Friday, 22-year-old Karina Freeman had nearly pulled into her driveway at her home at 13617 Dumfries Road when flames started shooting from the inside air vents, she said. Fire then engulf the front of the car.

Freeman escaped without injury and ran into her house afraid her car was going to explode.

She called fire and rescue crews who came to douse the blaze.

The PT Cruiser was in a Fredericksburg repair shop just last week because the car had been overheating, said Freeman. She had plans to travel to Emerald Isle Beach in North Carolina tomorrow. She must now put off that trip.
“I don’t even want to think about getting another car right now,” said Freeman.

While not as humid as the day before, temperatures on Friday climbed into the low 90’s. It was the latest in a string of days in what has been a summertime heat wave.

Police closed portions of Cardinal Drive, and Route to 234, respectively, were closed during each incident as fire crews mopped up the mess.