Car Fire in Laguna Canyon Puts an End to Day of Surfing

An early afternoon car fire on the inbound side of Laguna Canyon Road just north of the toll road today pretty much ended the surfing plans of two friends who were heading to Laguna to catch some of the high swells.

"The car started overheating, and there was heavy smoke," said Anthony Renna, 16, who was a passenger in the 1993 Chevy Astrovan. "We pulled over and the guys working over on the utility pole told us to get out, it was on fire."

The driver's father owns the vehicle. Neither were injured, but the blaze claimed the driver's body board and wetsuit.

"My dad was pretty pissed," the driver told Patch, after he called and told his father what happened. "Not at me, but he really needs that car. He was just thankful we're safe."

The fire was quickly doused by a crew from the Orange County Fire Authority. Smoke from the fire could be seen up Laguna Canyon Road several miles north, and the incident also caused a traffic backup on the road's inbound lanes, which caused some impatient drivers to turn around across the center divider and seek an alternate route.