Dylan Himes didn’t make it to work this morning. He had a good excuse. His car burned up.

Himes, 25, of Kittanning was traveling west on Route 422 about 8 a.m. headed to work at Testing Solutions in Prospect, when he smelled a problem.

“I smelled gas,” he said.

He pulled over in a lot near Old Route 422 and popped the hood.

“I only got it opened a couple inches and I heard a whoosh,” Himes said. The smoking engine compartment suddenly erupted in flames.

“I ran back as fast as I could,” he said.

His 2012 Mazda 3 was on fire.

Within five minutes, Lick Hill volunteer firefighters were there but there was no saving the car, which had 104,000 miles on it.

“The car was fully involved from front to back,” said firefighter Brian Birckbichler. “All four tires were on fire.”

State police are investigating the fire but a report was not immediately available.