Savannah, GA – Authorities say an SUV lost control following a collision in the street and slammed into a fuel pump at a gas station in Savannah, Georgia, causing the pump to burst into flames and killing the driver.
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Savannah Fire and Emergency Services spokesman Mark Keller said the vehicle overturned Tuesday in the center of the blaze.
The fire sent flames shooting above the awning covering the fuel pumps, while a huge cloud of black smoke drifted above DeRenne Avenue, a major thoroughfare lined with restaurants and businesses on Savannah’s suburban south side.
Police identified the driver as 87-year-old James Lester. Savannah-Chatham County police spokesman Sonny Cohrs says investigators determined Lester had pulled his SUV into traffic and was struck on the passenger side by an oncoming car before his car veered into the gas station.