PORT ANGELES — A father and daughter narrowly escaped injury in a car fire on U.S. Highway 101 around Lake Crescent.
Clallam County Fire District No. 2 firefighters were dispatched to a vehicle fire at 11:01 p.m. Friday.
They found a 1997 Subaru parked off the highway and fully ablaze about 2 miles around the lake, said Assistant Chief Mike DeRousie.
Firefighters put the fire out “using as little water as needed and trying to keep any contaminants from entering the lake,” DeRousie said.
The driver and his 4-year-old daughter were heading west on Highway 101 around the lake when the driver noticed sparks and smoke coming out from the rear of the car, DeRousie said.
The driver immediately pulled over off the roadway and got out of his car, opened the back door and removed his daughter just before the car caught on fire.
An off-duty Department of Corrections officer and a state Department of Transportation worker stopped and stayed with the driver and his daughter until firefighters arrived.
DeRousie drove the family to a friend’s nearby residence, he said.
The braking system is suspected to be the cause of the fire, DeRousie said.
The car was destroyed.
Fire District No. 2 responded with an engine, medic unit, tender and a command vehicle. An Olympic National Park ranger also assisted.
