Car Parked Inside Target Garage Catches on Fire

A car parked in the garage at on Broad Street caught on fire Tuesday afternoon, forcing employees and customers to temporarily evacuate the building. No one was inside the car at the time and no injuries were reported.

According to David Jones, deputy chief at , at around 3:30 p.m., firefighters responded to reports that there was smoke coming from the third floor of the parking garage facing Broad Street.

When firefighters arrived, they found security guards and a civilian on level P3 attempting to put out the flames with a fire extinguisher, but they were ordered to evacuate the garage just before the tires began popping, according to Captain Eric Lorenz.

"The fire was just too big at that point," he told Patch.

Officials were able to put out the flames in the car, which was a late-model silver Pontiac Grand Prix, within five minutes. The triggered sprinkler sytem, however, malfunctioned and firefighters weren't able to reset it, thus causing delay in allowing employees and customers to re-enter the building. They were eventually permitted to re-enter just before 4:30 p.m.

According to Jones, the owner of the vehicle is currently unknown and the cause of the fire is still under investigation.