SPRING HILL, Tenn. (WKRN) -- A Spring Hill family had a close call Tuesday night when their vintage automobile erupted into flames, forcing everyone inside to quickly evacuate.

The Spring Hill Fire Department was called out at approximately 9:22 p.m. on Tuesday, July 22 after a newly-restored, classic Volkswagen camper bus caught on fire at the intersection of Port Royal Road and Saturn Parkway.

"That's when the wife noticed that smoke was pouring out of the right rear, where engine compartment was," Spring Hill Fire Chief Graig Temple said.

Footage from the scene shows firefighters battling the intense blaze while law enforcement sealed off the intersection.

At one point, an officer spoke with a man from the VW:

Officer: "What happened?"

Man: "We just filled up and we pulled out, and it was on fire. Bought it like a week ago. Just sort of sucks."

Officer: "Okay. Everybody's out, though? Nobody's hurt or anything?"

Man: "No one's hurt. It was just smoking, people were yelling, and we stopped."

According to Spring Hill fire investigators, the family of four -- including a senior citizen -- was out for a ride. Shortly after the family put some gas in the vintage vehicle, other motorists came up to them at the stoplight and notified them about the emergency.

"The passersby alerting them definitely averted tragedy. They could've been driving down the road when the fire grew much faster and got into the occupant space of the vehicle," Temple told News 2.

According to Temple, fighting this fire was more difficult because many of the engine parts in this 1979 bus were made of magnesium, which is highly flammable, burns very hot, and reacts when hit with water.

"You can see it in one of the videos. It was actually burning a white flame it was so hot. It reacts almost like a firework when you apply water to it. You'll see it spark and hiss because it's burning at such a high temperature," the fire chief explained. "It took us several minutes to actually get the fire suppressed. We used foam, put foam out on the roadway, to suppress the vapors and to keep the fire down. Volkswagen, unfortunately, in that year was very notorious for having engine fires, whether it was through a fuel leak onto the hot engine itself or whether there was a mechanical failure."

Temple said he also talked to the family after the fire: "They were very devastated. This was kind of their pride and joy; they really wanted a vehicle of that era. They were devastated that the vehicle was destroyed."

Despite the intense heat from the blaze, Temple said there was no damage to the road. In addition, there were no reports of injuries following the incident.

The fire has been ruled accidental.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/family-narrowly-escapes-vintage-volkswagen-bus-fire-in-spring-hill/