Sheldon Blaine/CBS News New York/YouTube An older Audi exploded in Totowa, New Jersey, on Monday. The 28-year-old owner was sitting inside the car at the time of the explosion and received treatment at a nearby hospital, but he survived, New York's PIX11 reports. In fact, despite the explosion destroying almost the entire car, the owner reportedly managed to exit the car and walk away. Walking away from a real-life explosion that you actually survived almost certainly doesn't look or feel as cool as it does in the movies, but the owner certainly has one hell of a story. How many people can say they survived an exploding car? When you read "exploding car," especially now that you know the owner was in the car when it exploded, it would be reasonable to assume that really meant "caught on fire" or "one or two of the tires popped," but no. At least in this case, all the headlines that say the car "exploded" are right on the money. Everything behind where the A-pillars used to be is now a mangled mess. As PIX11 reported: The gated community of Hickory Hill received a rude awakening Monday morning when the car exploded on Congressional Lane. Police said a 28-year-old man was inside the car at the time of the explosion. "We heard a huge explosion. We were sleeping," neighbor Sheldon Blaine told PIX11 News. Neighboring home surveillance cameras picked up the sound of the blast, which sent a barrage of debris blasting through Blaine's front windows. Sheldon recorded himself walking through glass inside his home. "There's pieces of car everywhere," Sheldon said. Miraculously, the man was able to get out of the car on his own and was taken to a local hospital for treatment, police said. For some reason, the news outlets covering this story don't seem all that concerned with clarifying exactly what kind of car it was that exploded. I'm pretty sure it was a C6-generation A6, not an A8, but it could have been an S6. Was it a wagon or a sedan, though? No one's saying, and now that there's no rear end left, it's almost impossible to tell. References to the "trunk" suggest a sedan, but normies aren't known for using car terms accurately, so you never know. Some of the wreckage does look a little wagon-esque, but I'll leave the mangled mess investigation to the pros. A perfectly reasonable explanation Even in New Jersey, exploding cars have to be investigated, and the Totowa Police Department reportedly received assistance from its bomb squad, the AFT, and the FBI. PIX11 says that according to TPD, "preliminary findings indicated that the explosion was likely caused by a leaking acetylene cylinder in the trunk of the man's now-destroyed Audi." The man, whose name has not been released, reportedly works as a plumber, which would help explain why he had an acetylene tank in the first place. And it is possible for them to explode if they get hot enough. Authorities say they don't suspect foul play, but that doesn't mean we don't still have all sorts of questions. Mainly, was the Audi a work vehicle? Because as impractical as it would probably be to use an old Audi sedan instead of a van or truck, that's still awesome. Also, are we talking about a sedan or a wagon here? If it was his personal car, why bring home an acetylene tank in the first place? Especially during such an incredibly hot part of the year. It's plausible he just forgot about the tank after a long day at work, but you'd also think someone who works with acetylene on a regular basis would be more cautious about storage. If this was just an unfortunate accident, what caused the explosion itself? We aren't talking about a midday explosion that occurred after the car had been baking in the sun for hours. It blew up at about 5:30 a.m., which is about as cool a time as you're going to find. Were cigarettes involved? Alternatively, did this particular plumber have any enemies? Sunrise car explosions in gated communities don't exactly happen on a regular basis, and you never know how serious plumbing rivalries get. Mostly, though, we're just happy everyone survived. The owner may have had to go to the hospital, and neighbors had a bit of a scare, but the rest of the reported damage was just stuff, like windows, siding, and a fence. Stuff can be replaced, but people can't.
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