Correction appended:
The Columbia Fire Department responded Monday afternoon to a vehicle fire on Tiger Avenue outside Laws Hall.
Freshman Rebekka Shay, who lives on the eighth floor of Laws Hall, said she saw smoke from the fire and went out on her balcony.
“I just thought it was Dobbs’ grill smoking up because that’s usually what it is,” Shay said. “I went out on the balcony to look at it, and then I saw the car was starting to smoke up. It was probably 10 minutes or so (until) the whole entire front had caught on fire.”
Shay said the flames appeared to be 4 to 5 feet high.
Laws Hall peer adviser Jordan Duke called the police department after seeing the fire. He said he helped people around Laws Hall avoid the fire.
“There was a maintenance worker there from Mizzou, so we kinda just wanted people to go around just in case, but it wasn’t too much of a fire,” Duke said.
One fire truck showed up at the residence hall, and the fire was extinguished quickly, Shay said. Individuals previously had been trying to put out the fire using fire extinguishers.
“I had heard from one of the guys down(stairs) who had held the fire extinguisher that the woman was at the intersection — Hospital and Maryland — and her car had just started smoking up,” Shay said. “When she drove a little bit forward, like in front of Laws, to pull over, that’s when it started to combust and smoke really bad.”
The Columbia Fire Department could not be reached for comment regarding the cause of the fire.
Correction: An earlier edition of this article incorrectly stated “the cause of the fire is unknown.” It should state that the Maneater was unable to reach the fire department to clarify the cause of the fire.