PANAMA CITY BEACH — Multiple vehicles were involved in a fire outside of Christo’s Sports Bar & Grill on Sept. 19.
The popular local bar and restaurant where the fires occurred is located at 2903 Thomas Drive in Panama City Beach.
Video footage shared to Facebook by A Shot Above the Rest shows a VW bus and surrounding vehicles engulfed in flames.
WMBB’s Rebecca Starke reported that the van pulled into the Mobile gas station attached to the restaurant about 6 p.m. They say that customers noticed that the vehicle was on fire and made the owner move it away from the gas pumps.
The van was moved to the northwestern corner of the parking lot next to three unoccupied vehicles, which then also caught fire.
A report provided to the News Herald by a Bay County government spokesperson says that a transport unit arrived on the scene and announced there was one car on fire. While responding to another call, firefighters were given word that a second car had caught fire. Prior to their arrival, they then heard that three cars were engulfed in flames, with more affected.
Once they arrived, it didn’t take them long to get the fire under control, the report said. Firefighters spoke to the owner of the VW bus, who said that they could smell gas when they got into the vehicle, but weren’t sure where it was coming from.
When the bus moved out of its parking spot, the driver’s son saw that the back of the vehicle was on fire. The occupants of the car then backed into another parking spot, evacuated the vehicle, and called 911, according to the report.
Affected vehicle owners exchanged information, and insurance companies were notified. The Bay County Sheriff’s Office then asked wreckers to tow the vehicles away and clean up the remaining debris.
Some people on social media critiqued the response time, as there is a fire station directly across the street. The Bay County government spokesperson said that the response was delayed by six minutes because of a misinterpretation by the dispatcher.
The dispatcher heard “crystal” instead of “Christo’s” and thought it was the nearby Crystal Beach Apartments. The error was identified, and responding units were redirected.
Other footage posted online shows the cars completely scorched in the aftermath. No injuries were reported, and officials told other outlets that the matter is under investigation.
This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Several cars catch fire outside of Panama City Beach sports bar
Reporting by Dylan Gentile, Panama City News Herald / The News Herald
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
