An employee of a Cerritos restaurant is left dealing with severe fire damage to his car today after a mishap during a smoke break causes his convertible to go up in flames.
The fire in the parking lot behind the restaurant at 19011 Bloomfield Ave. was reported at 3:26 p.m. on Saturday, April 30, according to a Los Angeles County Fire Department dispatch supervisor. He said firefighters immediately doused the flames upon arrival at the scene.
LA County Sheriff's Department personnel from the told Patch.com that the owner of the green convertible Chrysler Sebring was an employee at Carrows. He apparently was trying to smoke a cigarette in his car and was taken by surprise when he pulled out his car's lighter and it was on fire. The man dropped the lighter on the floor and flames quickly spread throughout the vehicle.
The convertible was severely charred, but no one was hurt, according to the fire department. No other vehicles were damaged by the blaze.
News of the fire quickly spread to revelers at the Cerritos at the . Many of whom noticed black smoke billowing in the distance just north of Bloomfield Avenue and 195th Street.
