A&E reporter intern Thomas Johnson just sent me this update:

A Volvo caught fire and pulled off to the side of the road on the corner of E Hennepin Ave and 14^th Ave SE around 5pm. By the time the fire department arrived, the flames from the car were already in excess of 15 feet and the car was emitting a thick plume of black smoke.

Photo by Alex Judkins.

 A crowd of people, many University students, gathered across the street and down the block from the fire. Most had either seen the smoke or heard the small explosions coming from the car. Traffic on Hennepin around the blaze was stopped as the two engines put the fire out.

The engine and the trunk of the car remained relatively undamaged while the inside of the car was completely scorched. The driver of the car, who was able to make it out safely, believed the cause of the fire to be an electrical shorting under his seat. He was not injured.