Patti Allex had just dropped off two of her seven children at Fargo's Nativity Catholic School Monday morning when she walked outside and saw her car smoking, she said.
"And I open the back door and the floor was on fire, and I went around and grabbed the dog," she said, holding her 1½-year-old cocker spaniel, Angel.
The 1992 Crown Victoria, which is registered to Allex's father, and a 2007 GMC Yukon parked next to it were destroyed in the blaze. The incident was reported at 8:10 a.m. Monday in the school's parking lot at 11th Street and 18th Avenue South.
Allex said her hair was singed when she tried unsuccessfully to retrieve her purse from the burning car. The cocker spaniel coughed after she rescued it from the car, but otherwise didn't appear injured, she said.
Firefighters arrived at 8:18 a.m. to find both vehicles engulfed in flame. They used foam to extinguish the blaze.
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Allex, 43, and her husband, Grant, 45, said they are in the process of moving their family from Alexandria, Minn., to Fargo. There was liability insurance on the car, Grant Allex said.
"(We're) trying to move, and financially we don't have the money to take care of all of this crap," he said.
Fire Capt. Leroy Skarloken said the fire started in the Crown Victoria, but the cause could not be determined because of the extensive damage to the car.
No one was in the Yukon, owned by Rachel Rogen of Fargo, at the time of the fire. Rogen said she also lost her purse in the blaze.
Damage to the two vehicles and personal belongings was estimated at $45,000.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Mike Nowatzki at (701) 241-5528 Woman pulls dog from car fire Mike Nowatzki 20071016
