3 flee burning car

POST FALLS — Catherine Harris and family were sitting down for a nice, quiet dinner Tuesday evening when a car caught fire and exploded outside their home.

“It really, really was frightening. It was close to all our houses,” she said in a Wednesday phone interview with The Press.

Three people, a teenager and two younger kids, jumped from the vehicle, ran to the vacation house where they were staying across from the Harris home, and were not injured.

“Everybody was OK, but shook up,” Harris said. “They burst out of the doors. That was pretty scary.”

Harris watched the older, compact car as it began to pass their South Riverside Harbor home about 8 p.m. and saw smoke. Then, she saw flames coming from underneath the engine area — and the car was still moving along the tree-lined street.

“They weren’t even aware the car had caught fire,” Harris said.

As the flames grew, the driver and passengers noticed. The driver stopped, they pushed open the doors and fled. Meanwhile, Harris called 911.

“It actually exploded while I was talking to the dispatcher,” she said.

Then, there was a second explosion as the flame quickly rose higher and black smoke billowed.

Harris worried the blaze might get to the trees and from there, to the homes.

“It really is a miracle the trees didn’t catch fire,” she said.

Kootenai County Fire & Rescue responded and doused the blaze. The car was considered a total loss.

Harris said they moved into their new home about a year ago. They love Post Falls, their neighborhood and want to do what they can to protect it.

Mark Harris, an Army veteran and Catherine's husband grabbed their fire extinguisher and ran to the car to check and be sure everyone was safe.

“He bolted over there, trying to put it out,” Catherine said.

A few minutes later, after Harris had backed off the scene, it did. A second explosion also rattled the neighborhood.

According to KCFR, the driver said it felt like the transmission was having issues about a mile from where the fire started.

"She stated the vehicle did die a couple of times. Last time it died, smoke started coming from under the vehicle and after they got out, flames were seen," the report said.

Catherine Harris was proud of her husband, who charged over to help at his own risk.

“He knew it could explode,” she said.

She said if the car had traveled just another five or 10 yards, it might have been a different outcome.

“It was so close. It could have spread,’ she said.

“A little further down, it would have 100 percent caught fire to those trees,” she said. “The fact it stopped in a clearing was absolutely amazing."