Shoppers

in Peachtree City got a free pyrotechnic display

Sunday evening as a car burned to a crisp in a

local parking lot.

Firefighters

were called to the K-Mart on Crosstown Drive at 7

p.m. Sunday and found a 1995 Mazda 626 engulfed

in flames by the time they arrived, according to

assistant chief Sam King.

The

vehicle had struck a tree on a pine straw-covered

island in the parking lot, and the tree also

caught fire as a result, King said. "It [the

fire] had apparently grown rather rapidly."

The

exact cause of the fire is unknown. It appears to

have begun in the engine compartment.

The

driver of the car was inside the store and was

told by someone else that his vehicle was

burning.

There

were no other vehicles parked close enough to be

in danger, King said, and no one was injured.

Firefighters

got the blaze under control fairly quickly, but

the car was a total loss. "It was a pretty

simple operation," said King.

The

massive display of flames and smoke attracted

plenty of shoppers and other spectators.

total of ten firefighters responded - five

career and five volunteer - in an engine and

two medic units.

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