By MONROE ROARK
Staff Writer

Shoppers in Peachtree City got a free pyrotechnic display Sunday evening as a car burned to a crisp in a local parking lot.

Firefighters were called to the K-Mart on Crosstown Drive at 7 p.m. Sunday and found a 1995 Mazda 626 engulfed in flames by the time they arrived, according to assistant chief Sam King.

The vehicle had struck a tree on a pine straw-covered island in the parking lot, and the tree also caught fire as a result, King said. “It [the fire] had apparently grown rather rapidly.”

The exact cause of the fire is unknown. It appears to have begun in the engine compartment.

The driver of the car was inside the store and was told by someone else that his vehicle was burning.

There were no other vehicles parked close enough to be in danger, King said, and no one was injured.

Firefighters got the blaze under control fairly quickly, but the car was a total loss. “It was a pretty simple operation,” said King.

The massive display of flames and smoke attracted plenty of shoppers and other spectators.

A total of ten firefighters responded — five career and five volunteer — in an engine and two medic units.