Burning car briefly forces shutdown of I-4 westbound

TAMPA — Hillsborough County Fire Rescue closed all four westbound lanes of Interstate 4 around the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard exit just before 3 p.m. Tuesday to battle a raging car fire on the right shoulder.

Car owner Evan Bender, a University of South Florida student, said he was on his way to an auto repair shop when a man in an SUV flagged him down to tell Bender his car was on fire.

"I had to check with him a couple times, but when I pulled over, another guy in big truck told me the same thing," Bender, 21, said.

He took off his shirt and tried to smother the flames, but the fire spread.

Bender was able to get away from the 1990 Nissan 300ZX before flames rocketed out of the driver's side toward the lanes of travel on I-4.

"They came out about 15 feet," he said.

Fire rescue said that no one was injured. The lanes were closed while the fire continued but reopened shortly after 3 p.m.