Arizona woman returns to find car destroyed in massive propane fire

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) — A graveyard of burnt, mangled and charred cars filled an off-site airport parking lot following that massive propane fire Thursday near the airport. Some of those cars belonged to Valley residents returning from long trips.

“It’s just been really difficult to deal with and we’ve been here for five minutes,” Kathleen Moody said.

Among the wreckage was Moody’s car. She, along with her family, had returned Friday from a week-long trip in Colorado. They had no idea what waited for them after their return flight. “We just got off the plane from Sky Harbor and it was like, ‘Oh, by the way, you’re going to be in for a big surprise.’”

What was once a Lexus is now a metal frame and ash. Moody’s family doesn’t even know how to process the situation they were dealt, especially with how important the car is to her own daughter. “It’s just I never thought I’d be involved in something like this,” she said. “This is just shocking. I don’t know what to think. That car. That’s my daughter’s only means of transportation.”

Her daughter is a yoga instructor and keeps most of her equipment inside the car, but all that remains is a charred water bottle found among the ashes. “Her lively hood is in that car and so that’s what’s really killing us now.”

The parking lot company offered to shuttle Moody and her family back to the airport but having only been back in Phoenix for a few minutes, she felt lost. “They said they would take us over to the main office to get us out of the heat,” she said. “I have no idea how we are getting home, so we are figuring out how to deal with the shock first and then how we are going to get across town.”

Sundance Airport Parking said in a statement:

Despite the tragic scene before her, Moody said she will try to keep her chin up. “Trying to stay positive. That’s the only thing we got right now,” she said.

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