A car fire on Highway 59 this (Monday) morning caused minor injuries to the driver and backed up traffic for a little over 30 minutes. According to Defiance Fire Chief Al Wilwerding, the call came in around 7-am for a Pontiac sedan that was on fire between 1700th and 1800th Street.

Defiance and Irwin Fire Departments were on the scene when the car was fully engulfed in flames. Wilwerding says the fire started inside the car. “There were two people, an older couple, in the car and he said he thought it started underneath the driver seat or the driver seat and passenger seat.”

The names of the occupants were not released and the cause of the fire is unknown. The chief says the car was completely destroyed by the fire. The lone injuries were some burns to the drivers’ hands. Wilwerding said he was treated at the scene. A dollar amount on the damage to the vehicle was not given.

The Shelby County Sheriff’s assisted with traffic enforcement for the 45 minutes the departments were extinguishing the fire.

(Joel McCall/KNOD)