As I left the house this morning I looked at my camera and thought “I should take my camera with me today, just in case something exciting happens.”. But I left it behind, because nothing ever does. But wouldn’t you known it, a car catches fire on Jalan Kolam in Kota Kinabalu – almost right in front of me, and there I am without proper camera.
Luckily my trusted old Nokia has a 1 megapixel camera in it, and although the details of the burning van is a little fuzzy, at least you get the picture.
I was quietly typing away at my computer when a funny smell of something burning fills the air. People are forever burning stuff around here though, so it’s not particularly note worthy. Then sirens grow louder, but that’s not particularly noteworthy either, because that happens often too. But when the sirens stopped virtually right underneath the window of the office I happen to be in, we looked out the window.
And there, almost in the u-turn lane, were one of those beat up little vans you see everywhere, in a great ball of fire. The fire department where there quick and started to prepare the hoses. A little bang went off as the remaining petrol in the tank exploded, but it was quite small compared to the large flames engulfing the van.
Cars catching on fire in Kota Kinabalu is not as uncommon as you’d think. This is the third burning car I’ve seen in the last 12 months, and they’re usually the old white panel vans which were coming apart anyway.
So there’s my action for the day. It happened not 20 minutes ago. Traffic, of course, grinded to a halt during the ‘show’, people have to stop and gawk. But now the traffic is cleared and a tow-truck is about to remove the wreck.
Ha. Eat your heart out Jimmy Goh 
