Truck bursts into flames at Circle K 

A borrowed pickup led to disaster at a Circle K gas pump Thursday morning as the truck burst into flames, causing the shutdown of the fuel pumps. 

Maricopa Fire and Medical received a call at 10:25 a.m. about a vehicle fire at the Circle K at 21212 N. John Wayne Pkwy., at the southwest corner of the intersection with Smith-Enke Road.  

Watch a video of Maricopa Fire and Medical distinguishing the blaze below:

“It was initially dispatched as a vehicle fire, and the information we got was that it was very close to the pumps,” Deputy Fire Chief Chris Bolinger said. “Our battalion chief and one of our engines were dispatched and in route, and information came in that their might have been some possible explosions. Our engine company 575 was the first one on the scene and took a very aggressive attack. They isolated the vehicle and kept it away from any of the pumps and just made a really good, aggressive attack on this.” 

Maricopa Police said no one was cited, and no injuries were reported in the incident. The driver of the truck, Mike Enos, said he had just recently moved to town from Sells, Ariz., and had borrowed the truck to go to the hospital. 

Enos said the truck began to smoke as he was pulling up to the pumps. He parked the vehicle against the east curb of the parking lot, just south of the fuel pumps and facing John Wayne Parkway, then exited the truck before it became engulfed in flames. 

“I don’t know, I just borrowed (the truck), just barely borrowed it, and pulled in here to get gas,” Enos said. “Then the smoke came out and I didn’t want to be by that pump, so I pulled it out of the way. They use the truck every day and said they’ve never had any problems with it.” 

Maricopa Police said the incident was simply an electrical issue that escalated. 

“Long story short, we had an electrical issue that caught the vehicle on fire,” Sgt. Mike Dennison of the Maricopa Police Department, the ranking officer on the scene said. “He was coming in and stopped there, from what I understand. The biggest story is that he came in to get fuel and it was an electrical fire. They shut down the pumps at the time, but they’re selling gas now.” 

Bolinger said despite the close proximity to the fuel pumps, “there are multiple redundancies and safety measures that are put in place in these pumps, so once we got a (water) line in place that hazard was pretty much mitigated.”