A Dodge Ram pickup truck caught fire in the 1600 block of Gunbarrel Road on Monday afternoon.
No one was injured, Chattanooga Fire Department spokesman Bruce Garner said. Firefighters from Station 21 were able to extinguish the fire within a minute or so, he said.
Kevin Christenson said he was inside the Trust Federal Credit Union when he saw smoke blowing past the windows. He looked outside and saw the truck parked on the side of the road with smoke coming out of the hood.
A Dodge Ram pickup truck caught fire in the 1600 block of Gunbarrel Road on Monday afternoon, March 12, 2018. No one was injured." ... finally an elderly couple got out," he said in a text message. "[The woman] stepped to the side and [the man] walked up to the hood, hands shaking."
Christenson said he saw the truck start to flame and yelled at the man to not open the hood out of fear the man would burn himself and give the fire oxygen.
But the man opened it anyway, and "sure enough it burst into bigger flames," Christenson said.
"Not knowing what to do, he just stood in front of it as the fire began to consume the hood and move towards the cabin," he said. "I pleaded with him to move away. Finally, he seemed to realize there was nothing he could do and heeded my pleas."
The fire moved into the truck's cabin before fire fighters could arrive, he said. It all happened within a matter of minutes.
"A big shoutout to the firefighters for showing up so quickly!" Christenson said. "I don't know where they came from, but it was like the bat symbol came on and they were ready around the corner."
An estimated dollar amount for damage was not available, Garner said.