[UPDATE 9:57p.m.: Victim Describes What Happened] Vehicle Engulfed in Flames on Bald Hills Road in Northeastern Humboldt
Thick black smoke rises from what looks like a compact SUV. [Photos by Nolan Begay]
A caller’s phone data placed the incident in the 1300 block of Bloody Camp Road but that hasn’t been confirmed. The fire is in a rural area and it is taking awhile for emergency personnel to reach the scene.
Nolan Begay, who photographed the car on fire, said he was told that everyone was out of the vehicle and safe.
No additional details about the cause of the fire.
Please remember that information gathered from initial reports is subject to revision as more facts become available.
UPDATE: The fire was extinguished.
UPDATE 9:57p.m.: Sharlee Brown’s car was a total loss and that wasn’t all! Sharlee told us, “My kids are traumatized and I just keep reassuring them everything will be okay.” But her GoFundMe describes a really tough situation.
She explained what happened win the GoFundMe, “I took my little guy out to take a picture and noticed smoke coming from under my car. I told my other kids to get out and I popped my hood and smoke started pouring out. I got the kids far away from my car and as we were walking away my car became fully engulfed in flames. I called 911… .”
She explained that as a result of the fire, “my car, whole purse, all my cards, ID, Cash, car seat EVERYTHING GONE IN A MATTER OF SECONDS. In the moment I stayed calm because my kids were already freaking out but now I don’t know what to do. I created this go fund me because I am currently out of work due to being type 1 diabetic and having complications. I have no funds to get a new vehicle, new car seat for my little guy, or replace anything including the keys to my truck that were lost in the fire as well. I do owe about 19,000 on my car. ”
Click here to read her whole situation, see another image, and donate if you can help.
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That’s terrifying!
This lady could definitely use some help.
What the heck with so many car fires lately? Who manufactures these death traps?
I wonder if it’s the excess of electrical doo-dahs and tangle of wiring in modern vehicles that causes them to spontaneously combust.
Anyway, sounds like a fresh new hell out of nowhere for this family.
Electric cars have battery fires but mechanical cars catch fire to. Usually oil leaking ,and getting on something hot.
AI slop photos can’t believe they are being used to cover this story, disappointing. look at the way the brush in the first photo is completely not present in the second, the car looks like melting ice cream, the license plates aren’t even attempting to have characters displayed or an intentional blur for privacy. Keep AI out of journalism.
Looks like the first photo was taken a distance away, with the shrubbery in the foreground whereas out of frame in the second photo. The plume of smoke is probably hiding the others that we can see in the first photo. It’s hard to believe anything anymore, but highly doubt RHBB would stoop so low. We need to use our critical thinking skills more than ever these days.
Thank you for the feedback. To clarify: we did not produce this photo. It was sent to us by a resident and submitted within roughly 10 minutes of the fire. The occupant also posted similar images independently.
What you’re describing as red flags are consistent with what a real burning vehicle actually looks like. The “melting” appearance on the body panels is likely heat warping metal and paint, which is exactly what happens in an intense car fire. The license plate is indistinct because of heat distortion, smoke haze, and zoom compression, not AI generation.
We’d also note that generating and submitting convincing AI images of an active fire scene within 10 minutes isn’t a realistic workflow for most people. Anyone who has worked with AI image tools knows they require considerably more time and iteration than that.
If you have specific technical evidence pointing to manipulation, we’re genuinely open to hearing it. We take photo sourcing seriously.
CORRECTION: She owed $1900 not $19000 on the car, according to the gofundme.