SAN ANTONIO – A man who set fire to a car at a gas station near downtown may have suffered burns in the process, arson investigators said.
According to a San Antonio Fire Department report, firefighters who arrived to douse the flames at the Quick Trip gas station around 3 a.m. Thursday were told there was a patient nearby who had minor burns.
But when they went to look for the man, they discovered he already had left the area.
Firefighters believe he may have been the driver of the car that burst into flames in the 300 block of San Pedro Avenue.
Gas station shuts down its pumps after vehicle fire
The car burned dangerously close to the gas pumps, turning the one nearest to the fire into a melted mess.
Workers had to do an emergency shutdown of the gas pumps to prevent a potential explosion.
Investigators said surveillance video shows the driver tossing something through the car window and then threw a bag that smelled like gas into a nearby trash can.
Shortly afterward, the car caught fire.
Arson investigators were called to the scene.
By late Thursday morning, some of the gas pumps that had been shut down during the danger were back on again.