Student Escapes Flaming Car on Way to School

Around 8AM Friday morning, traffic was snarled near Clearwater and Steptoe in Kennewick after a car fire just south of the intersection on Steptoe.

Kennewick Fire Crews and Police report a high school student was on their way to school when their car starting smoking badly from under the hood.  After pulling over, he was able to get out safely, a short time later, flames burst from the front end of the vehicle.

It took fire crews a few moments to extinguish the blaze, but traffic was delayed while a tow truck removed the smoking car. Officials did not say what caused the fire, it's under investigation. The student was not hurt.

Another motorist snapped this picture of the scene. (Courtesy yaktrinews.com and Robert Van Slycke).