There’s a car on fire in Northeast DC, near the Red Line Metro rails between New York Ave. and Rhode Island Ave.

I had thought at first it was an electrical fire that had set the brush alight, when I first smelled smoke at Rhode Island Ave. NE Metro station, and saw the grass on fire about a hundred yards from the south end of the station. A large explosion in the midst of the flames changed my mind, however: it did not look electrical. After I had boarded the train and it had passed directly over the blaze, the burning frame of a car was clear (though not quite so clear in the photos I took, shown above).

I just got off the phone with DC Emergency Dispatch (i.e. 911), and they’ve received numerous tips. This should make for some minor headlines tomorrow, I suppose. (Monday now, no news about it.)