Friday, April 26, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
Heard the one about the car that burst into flames?
Well, William Woods isn't really in the mood to hear it right now. Primarily because the shock still hasn't worn off.
He'd driven his 1988 Ford Mustang home about noon Wednesday to pick up his lunch, brought the food back to his office at Nellis Air Force Base about a mile away, and had made it through a cup of coffee and almost a whole sandwich when his car exploded.
"A kid runs in yelling, saying 'Mr. Woods, your car's on fire and it's rolling down the road,'" the jet engine mechanic said. "I'd just taken the last bite of my sandwich. I nearly choked!"
The kid -- Sgt. Greech -- had a look in his eyes that told Woods it wasn't a prank. "And when he grabbed a fire extinguisher, I knew he wasn't kidding."
The two bee-lined to the parking lot and, sure enough, Wood's Mustang had rolled more than 25 feet from where he'd parked outside the repair garage. It nearly hit a building, its front end aflame.
The car was in first gear and the emergency brake on when he left it, Woods said.
Greech and Woods put out the blaze with four extinguishers.
Firefighters arrived and squirted water on the sooty mess to dilute the battery acid and car chemicals spilled in the disaster.
As if the fire wasn't enough, the incident nearly landed Woods in trouble with the law.
A post just a few inches from the building technically stopped the car. Had it not and the car hit the building, the military police told Woods he would've been ticketed for property damage.
Ford Motor Co. is recalling 8.7 million vehicles in the United States and Canada with ignition switches that have been blamed for hundreds of fires.
Some had been parked for days and went up in flames. Others were triggered when the cars were turned on or off.
"I heard about it on the news, but didn't think much about it," Woods said. "Who thinks their car's going to catch on fire?"
John Abrahamson, service manager at Ford Country in Henderson, said the fires sparking the recall started in the ignition, located under the dashboard in the steering column. Woods' fire was around the engine.
Abrahamson said he hasn't heard of any Ford fires in Clark County attributed to the faulty ignition switches.
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