HUDSON — A car was destroyed by fire Thursday morning in Hudson.
A BMW Mini Cooper was lost in the fire, said Hudson Fire Chief Anthony Demarco.
The driver of the car, Kayla Nicole Milroy, 22, of Hudson, was not injured, Hudson Police Chief L. Edward Moore said.
At about 2:40 a.m., Columbia County 911 sent Hudson Fire Department to 7 Fairview Ave., after Milroy reported that her car was on fire.
Milroy was driving south on Fairview Avenue when her check engine light came on. She then heard a noise, pulled her car over into a parking lot and got out, Demarco said.
Hudson firefighters responded within minutes of receiving the call. When they arrived they found the vehicle fully engulfed in flames, Demarco said.
As firefighters began extinguishing the burning car, they closed Fairview Avenue to traffic between Green Street and Columbia Street.
Flames from the vehicle shot high into the air.
Firefighters were able to put the fire out quickly. The vehicle is a total loss, Demarco said.
The car was not burning near any buildings or power lines, Demarco said.
The cause of the fire was an engine malfunction, Moore said.
The car was towed from the scene.
Fairview Avenue was reopened and all firefighters were back in service at 3:40 a.m. Hudson police investigated the fire.
In 2018, BMW of North America recalled 47,806 select 2011 and 2012 BMW, Mini Cooper and Rolls Royce vehicles because the auxiliary water pump could fail and cause a circuit board to overheat. That overheating could lead to a fire, according to Consumer Reports magazine.
Nearly 90,000 BMW Mini Coopers sold in the United States were recalled in 2012 due to a risk of engine fire.
It’s not known if the engine problems in the Mini Cooper in Hudson on Thursday morning was related to past recalls of the product.