C4 Corvette Burns to the Ground While Owner Is Working on It

The owner of this C4 Corvette was performing a compression test when it erupted into flames in his garage.

Fire is near the top of most people’s list of fears, whether it be a fire at their home or in their car. Destructive and deadly, fires often happen as a result of neglect. It’s not quite clear what caused this C4 Corvette to burn to the ground in Lehigh Acres, Florida recently, but we do know that the owner, William Harrington, was performing a compression test on the car in his garage when things quickly went wrong.

While doing the compression test, Harrington heard a loud bang, and the next thing he knew, smoke was billowing from the engine compartment. “It just went boof! Then I see flames and I try to put it out but the garage was filled with smoke,” Harrington told ABC 7 News. After spending $20,000 fixing up his prized C4 Corvette, Harrington was quite literally watching it go up in flames.

Regardless, Harrington quickly realized that if he didn’t move the Corvette out of his garage, he might lose his house, too. “I pushed it out a little bit but there were cars in the way,” he said. “I had to put a car there, a car in the back, and push it out some more.” It took some serious maneuvering, but ultimately, Harrington got the Corvette out before it erupted into flames. Luckily, he suffered only minor injuries in the process.

By the time Lehigh Fire and Rescue showed up on the scene, the car was in the middle of the street and completely engulfed in flames. On a windy day in an area surrounded by heavy brush, firefighter Katie Heck also noted that things could have ended much, much worse. “This is just an example of how a small fire can become a big problem,” Heck said. “Something like this being pushed out into a heavily brushed area is always something to be aware of.”

As one might discern from looking at the photos of the burnt C4 Corvette, the car is clearly a total loss. Harrington is obviously a bit distraught by the whole thing, as we all would be. But we can’t help but wonder if the presence of a fire extinguisher could have prevented all of this from happening in the first place.

Photos:Lehigh Fire and Rescue/Twitter

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