Pest exterminating quickly turned into fire extinguishing when a Hum Bug Pest Control vehicle burst into flames Friday afternoon on Bethany Road. 

The 2018 Nissan Rogue belongs to Hum Bug Pest Control located in Pikeville and caught fire around 1 p.m. According to Centertown Fire Department Chief Phillip Prater, the driver was having engine trouble and pulled off the road. 

The fire started under the hood.When the driver noticed the car was on fire and that he could not put it out, he quickly opened the back hatch and removed all the chemicals. Centertown Fire Department was dispatched to put out the growing flames.

“He did have the chemicals unloaded before we got here and we had a little trouble putting it out because of the fuel. The fuel tank had ruptured and it was spilling fuel out onto the ground and we had to sweep the fuel and get the heat taken away at the same time to keep it from reigniting. That is the reason we were having to fight with it so hard,” said Prater.

North Warren Fire Department was called to provide more water for firefighters. The fire spread throughout the vehicle and caught some of the surrounding area on fire as well. Prater says removing the chemicals out of the vehicle was a good thing, but depending on what kind of chemicals were present it would not have affected the fire too much. 

“It would have been a little more dangerous on us fighting it. It just depends on what type of chemicals were involved. Most of those chemicals won’t ignite. It would have just been a hazard to breathe and we would have probably packed up with SCBA’s and fought it if that would have been the case,” said Prater.

The vehicle was a total loss.