Car catches fire on Pardi highway: Short circuit ignites, driver's punctuality averted fatalities

National Highway No. A fire broke out in a moving Swift car on Saturday evening due to a short circuit. However, due to the timeliness of the car driver, there were no casualties and a major accident was averted. The car was completely gutted in the fire. Hemantbhai Ramubhai Patel, a resident of Vachala Phalia in Velparva village of Pardi taluka, works in a cello company in Karambeli. On Saturday evening, he drove his CNG car (No. GJ-15-CH-3386) was returning home. At around 6.45 pm, smoke started coming out of the bonnet of the car as soon as it reached the Bagwara toll naka. At the same time, Hemantbhai felt that the pickup of the car had also decreased. Sensing the gravity of the situation, he immediately parked the car on the side of the highway and got out of it. In a few moments, the fire had taken a terrible form. Locals and other motorists passing by the highway rushed to help and tried to douse the fire with a fire extinguisher. But the fire had quickly spread to a fierce form. Locals and pedestrians rushed to the spot immediately. A Pardi fire team rushed to the spot and doused the fire after locals immediately informed the fire brigade. Preliminary investigation revealed that the cause of the fire was an electric short circuit. The driver of the car, Hemant Patel, said the loss was estimated to be around Rs four lakh. A complaint has been lodged by Hemantbhai at Pardi police station to know about this. After the incident, Hemantbhai appealed to other motorists to keep adequate safety equipment, including fire extinguishers, in their vehicles so that possible loss of life could be avoided in such a sudden situation. The driver of the car has been appealed to stop the car immediately at a safe place and get out of the car and take timely help from the technical team if the pickup in the moving car is reduced.