“I grabbed both of the boys and said, ‘we have got to get out of here, the car is on fire,'” Paulette Durrah said. “We jumped out, and the flames went higher.”
DENTON COUNTY, Texas — Paulette Durrah has dedicated her life to caring for children. She works as a nanny during the week and volunteers as a teacher at her church.
“I love the kids running up to me every Sunday morning, Saturday evening, or whatever,” Durrah said. “They just give me hugs and say ‘Miss Paulette, that’s my favorite teacher.'”
Durrah is a nanny to two young boys, and her daily routine includes school drop-offs and pick-ups. But on Monday morning, while driving on the service road near Dale Earnhardt Way and I-35W, she was caught off guard.
“I was like, What?! Huh!?,” Durrah said, after another driver told her that her car was on fire.
A Northlake police officer had already noticed smoke coming from her car and followed her with concern.
As the smoke turned into flames, Durrah acted quickly.
“I grabbed both of the boys and said, ‘we have got to get out of here, the car is on fire,'” Durrah said. “We jumped out, and the flames went higher.”
The fire blew out her car’s windshield, melted the front tires and destroyed the front seats of her 2016 Toyota as the flames increased with intense heat.
“Not only increase,” she said of the flames, “I actually watched the front bumper literally melt into the asphalt.”
Captain Jose Olivas and his crew from Denton County Emergency Service District No. 1 responded as the fire spread to the grass along the access road.
“We couldn’t see the smoke until we were right at the exit,” Olivas said. “That’s when we arrived on the scene and found the car fully involved.”
Olivas said this was the second car fire in the same area within days. He offered advice for drivers in similar situations.
“Try to put the car in park, don’t let it ride off,” he said. “If you have kids, loved ones or whatever, get them out in a safe manner and get away.”
He warned against returning to burning vehicles to retrieve personal belongings due to the risk of exposure to hazardous materials like magnesium, which can ignite violently when exposed to water.
“If you have your phone on you, your belongings, just leave them,” Olivas said. “There’s no reason for you to go back in there, put yourself at risk.”
Since Durrah’s job depends on her car, her family launched a fundraiser to help replace the vehicle. Anyone wishing to donate can do so here.
“I just followed my instincts and followed my gut,” Durrah said.
Now, she says her biggest hope is to return to picking the boys up from school once again.