general problems of the 1998 GMC Jimmy

I was driving a 1998gmc Jimmy from oklahoma city, ok to walters, ok. Everything was great and the car was driving perfectly. I was on the he bailey turnpike on highway marker 30 - I could see the sign and pull off for the faxon exit and the big sign for walters. A few wisps of white smoke appeared and then heavy grey smoke started to billow into my face through the right side vent of the driver's seat. I started to cough and couldn't see so I pulled over to the shoulder of the road. As I got out of the car, I pulled the hood release and ran to the front of the vehicles. Under the hood, half of the engine bay was already burned away - like the bottle for anti-freeze and hoses. . . . The whole engine bay was on fire. The car was gone at that point - there was no way to save it. I ran to the passenger front seat and grabbed a basket that had my census id and I threw it away from the car. I grabbed some cds then too, but they were on fire. The dash was on fire and was spreading into the front seat. I threw the cds in the dirt to extinguish the fire. I grabbed the passenger side door of the back seat and grabbed a hamper with presents for my daughter. I ran to the other side back seat and grabbed the legal papers of census applicants - they were on fire and I snuffed out the fire in the dirt. I grabbed my jean jacket with my military id and driver's license - the back seat and front seat were on fire and I ran away from the vehicle and it fireballed and exploded. Two men from the turnpike maintenance saw me driving - smoking pouring out front he vehicle; they saw me pull out on the shoulder and saw me running to salvage what I could from the burning vehicle. They came to help me and called the fire department and highway patrol. Minor injuries I had smoke inhalation, minor burns to face - soot on hands & feet. Unk mileage. . Read more...