A pickup truck driver says he is “okay” after his vehicle spontaneously burst into flames earlier this afternoon.

The male motorist, who preferred not to state his name, says he was driving down Road 29 East near Highway 52 when he pulled over to reply to a few text messages on his phone. Partway through his correspondence, just before 3:00 PM, he says he smelled something funny. Shortly after he exited his truck to investigate the smell, he noticed a plume of smoke slowly wafting from his hood. Sensing this was not a positive sign, the man seized his valuables from the vehicle and situated himself a safe distance away. Within moments, flames began shooting from the hood, very quickly engulfing the entire truck.

That is when Hanover District Fire Chief John Schroeder and his crew were called to the scene.

“We had no trouble finding it,” he says. “The smoke was so high we could see it from five miles away.”

Firefighters extinguished the blaze with a combination of foam and water but Schroeder says the fire was burning too fast and too hot for them to save the pickup.

With the tires incinerated, the interior totally charred, and even the tail lights melted off... “I don’t think I’d even call it a parts truck,” chuckles Schroeder.

The driver himself was fairly matter-of-fact about his loss. “It’s just a truck,” he says, “and it was just me here. I’m glad my kids weren’t in danger or anything.”

Schroeder’s team left the site after roughly an hour and the vehicle was towed away.