Flames engulfed the front of a ’99 Grand Prix when the fire department arrived in the W lot in front of Taylor Hall.

Amie Calvert, of Charleston, was jogging around the Panther Trail before 5 p.m. Wednesday when she thought she saw smoke across the pond. By the time she came around the loop, the car was in flames.

“It’s just something you don’t see every day,” Calvert said.

Police and Charleston Fire and Rescue arrived and extinguished the fire.

The fire department used a hatchet to hack open the car’s hood. They flooded the engine and disconnected the car’s battery.

After the flames were out, the police left a message on the owner’s cell phone. The phone, however, was in the car at the time of the fire.

The car had been parked in the second-to-last spot in the W lot.

After speaking with police, the owner paused to let the smoke clear out of the cab before collecting a pair of shoes, duffle bag and some books. Nothing in the cab was damaged.

The car was towed at 5:21 p.m.

Police and firefighters didn’t know what caused the fire, but guessed it was something electrical.

The smell of burning plastic and wiring made breathing difficult.

Something like this happens a few times each year, said Tim Meister, captain of Charleston Fire and Rescue.

When the department gets a call saying a car is on fire, sometimes it’s the real thing and sometimes it’s only smoke, Meister said.