At approximately 3:51 p.m. Tuesday, the ISU Police Department received word that a car was giving off heavy smoke in the parking lot on the west side of Forker Hall.

The incident was reported via a non-emergency cell phone call, said ISU Police Cmdr. Gene Deisinger. A passer-by called the dispatch office and said they saw smoke coming from a car in Lot 50B.

The first officer on the scene, Josh Hale, graduate student in logistics, operations and management information systems, said the car was smoking when he arrived.

A thick, pale gray smoke was bellowing out of a red 1998 Oldsmobile Aurora, giving off the distinct smell of burning rubber as members of the Ames Fire Department No. 2, 132 Welch Ave., doused the car with water and pried open gaps along the edge of the hood to extinguish the flames before prying the hood open entirely.

The primary hood release cable had been burnt through, disabling the release lever inside the car so firefighters had to force the hood open by prying through the release mechanism.

After prying open the hood, firefighters redoused the engine and began preparing the vehicle to be towed.

The firefighters cut the cords to the battery to reduce the danger of an incident. He said electrical systems such as airbags can be dangerous for firefighters and other workers near the car. A vehicle’s tires can also explode because of the heat of the fire.

“This fire wasn’t too hot; the tires didn’t pop,” said Lt. John Johnson of the Ames Fire Department. “Most likely because the fire wasn’t getting enough oxygen.”

With car fires, Johnson said, the primary concern is to stop the blaze from spreading to other vehicles.

“There wasn’t much fire and it wasn’t going anywhere,” he said.

The owner of the car was not present at the scene, although the keys were in the ignition in the off position at the time of the fire.

The car was towed from the lot and impounded. Johnson speculated that the fire rendered the car a total loss.

“When car fires get under the hood, they cause a lot of damage really fast,” he said.