An Exciting Friday Evening

I was just sitting at home, sewing some more flowers (this time as hair pins), watching an episode of Private Practice when I heard some commotion outside. I thought it was neighborhood hoodlums (although we don't really have any, so I'm not sure why I thought that) on the street. I got up and looked around, and seeing nothing, sat back down to my sewing. And then the commotion got louder. And then "bang!" I thought it was a gunshot. I realized then that the noise was coming from the back yard, and this is what I saw when I opened the back door:

A car on fire in the alley behind my house! I immediately called the fire department and then started taking pictures. Actually, by the time I was off the phone with the FD, most of the flames had been extinguished (the guys had a garden hose from the house behind the car), but it was still sparking and flaming underneath the car. By the time the FD arrived, the engine fire seemed to be mostly out, but the dash was burning.

So they got out their axes and literally hacked the dash out of the car to get at the remaining fire.

I don't even know whose car it is. I don't think it belongs to anyone on the block, but the guy down the alley seems to work on cars. And since he was out there, I'm guessing it was one of his. Scary. I'm glad no one got hurt. And I'm really glad that it wasn't a gunshot like I originally thought!