May 4, 2020 - U.S. Highway 59 (U.S. 59) just two miles west of Tenaha was the scene where a vehicle burst into flames Sunday, May 3, 2020.
Emergency personnel were requested to the scene where it was reported a vehicle was in flames and had exploded.
As fire presonnel with the Tenaha Volunteer Fire Department extinguished the flaming car, Shelby County Sheriff's Department deputies diverted traffic at the scene and Texas Department of Public Safety investigated the incident.
According to Texas DPS Trooper Jesse Fountain, at 12:40pm DPS Troopers responded to a car on fire on U.S. 59 and upon arriving on scene, the vehicle was on the northbound shoulder where it had burned and was smoking.
Jennifer Truitt, 38, of Mt. Enterprise was driving a tan 2001 Toyota Solara when she filled up with fuel in Timpson and continued traveling northbound before hearing a loud pop and then seeing smoke and flames. Once Truitt brought the vehicle to a stop, she and her passengers Katelynn Nottingham, 18, and a 15-year-old passenger exited the vehicle promptly.
Another driver traveling behind Truitt knew her and had reached into the vehicle to grab something out and received minor burns.
Ambulance personnel were on scene and no one required transport from the scene for injury.
