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The driver of an electric car that caught fire on the Mass Pike in Boston and led to massive traffic jams throughout the city Friday morning said he’s sorry.
“Very apologetic for the traffic fiasco that it caused this morning in Boston,” driver Brian told WBZ-TV, just hours after the fire.
Brian was taking his 90-year-old grandfather to an operation at Mass Eye and Ear around 7 a.m. when his car suddenly hit something on the westbound side of the highway near the Prudential Tunnel.
“I didn’t have enough time to react or swerve safely,” Brian said.
He said the first thing he did was unbuckle his grandfather’s seatbelt so that he could get out of the Chevrolet when it was safe.
“It was a pretty harrowing experience, I would say, because there were multiple vehicles passing by as well. So I didn’t have the opportunity to exit the vehicle right away. But you know, thankfully people caught on to the fact that the car was on fire and a few minutes later, I was able to get out of the vehicle,” Brian explained.
Brian said that while they waited to leave, flames got inside the car and burned a part of his leg.
“I lost a few hairs today. The flames were pretty small, and you know, I think I’m just very lucky to be fairly unscathed today,” Brian said. “It was terrifying, you know, I think at the moment you don’t realize the amount of danger you’re in.”
Both Brian and his grandfather were able to get out of the car before it ended up in a fireball and exploded.
“We’re just grateful that we’re safe, everyone is safe,” Brian said.
He thanked the Boston firefighters and Massachusetts State Police troopers for their help.
“There was a state trooper who took just a regular fire extinguisher and put out the fire himself, I think to some personal risk to his own safety before the firetruck could get there.”
Traffic on the westbound side of the Mass. Pike in Boston was shut down near Fenway Park and traffic was backed up all the way to Logan Airport. Ramp closures also led to traffic jams on Interstate 93, the Zakim Bridge and Storrow Drive.
All lanes on the Pike reopened about two hours after the fire, at 9:20 a.m.
Drivers nowhere near the scene were frustrated with the traffic.
“It was standstill traffic for sure, especially over the bridge,” said WBZ-TV intern Zoe Rakarich, who was on an MBTA Red Line shuttle bus at the time.
She said that people were asking to get off the bus and were confused about the delays.
Firefighters and state police needed to take extra precautions with this fire, because electric car batteries can re-ignite and can burn for several hours.
Riley Rourke is a digital producer for CBS Boston. She has worked at WBZ-TV since graduating from Emerson College in 2023.
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©2025 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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