How are you supposed to respond when your car is on fire?

I've got a question to ask. How are you supposed to respond when your car's engine is on fire?

Never thought I would have to personally answer that question, but I had to yesterday. I had some work done at a local mechanic shop (name withheld because...accidents happen; it's not like he meant to destroy my car!).

Within ten minutes of leaving the garage, I had smoke billowing out of my engine. I was near the Christian Campus House in DeKalb, so I pulled over to see what was going on. Imagine my surprise when I popped the hood to discover a small fire blazing in the right side of the engine compartment.

For some reason, the first thought that entered my mind was just to blow it out. Thankfully, the absurdity of that image also entered my mind quickly. Instead, I did the next logical thing and called 911. Remain calm. Explain the situation. Give them my location. See you soon.

Then I called the mechanic.

I didn't shout. I didn't use any profanity. I feel I did pretty well explaining to him why he was about to buy me a new car. I'll call you later after the fire's out...

So how are you supposed to respond when your car is on fire?

I laughed!

What else can you do? Besides, it's just stuff. It's nothing that can't be easily replaced. Nobody was hurt. I didn't lose anything but the car in the fire. I gave the local college students some excitement in their dreary day. So I laughed.

CarMax...here I come!