With seconds to spare, an escape from the flames

(George Rizer/Globe Staff)

Christopher Baro's car, which he tried to save from the flames. He says he'll save the $20 bill from the wallet that survived the flames

By John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

Christopher Baro and his girlfriend ran out of his house to try to save his car from the flames. They were lucky, he said, to save themselves.

"If we stayed in the car maybe 10 seconds more, me and my girlfriend would be dead," he said.

Baro, his girlfriend, his parents, and his younger brother were awakened by the sound of an explosion early this morning. He said he looked out and saw a fire in the rotary. He ran out to try to move 1997 Chevy Lumina, which was parked in front of one of the buildings that would eventually be destroyed in the blaze.

He said he saw a wall of flames 10 feet high coming toward them when they hopped in the car.

"It looked like lava coming down Main Street," he said. "I had to drive right through the flames. ... The fire wrapped around us."

Baro and his girlfriend, Laura Houlihan, both 23, had to abandon the car when it caught fire. But neither of them was injured.

They worried about his family and didn't find out for an hour that they were all right.

"We had no clue. We thought they were gone," he said.

Baro's car ended up being a charred wreck. But he had left his wallet in it, and the wallet survived, with a $20 bill inside intact.

Baro said he would keep the bill for the rest of his life as a memento.

"I'm just real grateful that my neighbors, my family, my friends are all alive," he said.

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