Prius Catches Fire on Highway 101

Owner uninjured

The Willits Volunteer Fire Department responded Thursday morning to reports of a Prius engulfed in flames on southbound Highway 101, just north of Reynolds Highway.

Fire Capt. Harry So said the call came in at 10:08 a.m. The fire appeared to have started in the engine bay, So said. The driver pulled over and was able to retrieve items from the car. “At that point, the fire became more than he could handle,” So said.

Firefighters took about 15 minutes to fully extinguish the blaze, using roughly 1,000 gallons of water, and remained on scene for about an hour.

So said car fires are relatively uncommon — more often, an overheating vehicle is mistaken for a fire.

The car was towed from the scene, So said, and firefighters did not determine the cause of the fire, which was confined to the vehicle and did not spread to nearby vegetation.

This story was originally reported by Redheaded Blackbelt, which also kindly shared video of the fire with us. The video was taken by Redheaded Blackbelt reporter Lisa Music.