Underneath a wall of fire, one man's prized possession slowly melted away.
"The heat pushed me back when it exploded, I've been distraught all day," The owner of the burnt race car, Wendell Melonson said.
Melonson spent Saturday night racing his 1980 Chevy Monza in Evadale before getting dinner at the Waffle House off College Street in Beaumont.
His Polaris 4-wheeler and race car sat on a trailer connected to his truck in the parking lot when he went inside.
Then a waitress told Melonson that a motorcycle caught fire.
Initially he didn't think anything of it, but when she insisted he turn around, Melonson realized what was happening.
"I run out and sure enough, my Polaris is on fire," Melonson said. "So, I ran out and unstrapped it, trying to push it off the trailer."
Melonson told 12News he and another man forced the ATV off, but the fire had already spread to his Chevy Monza.
Shortly after, an explosion that could be heard for miles brightened the sky.