At first, Patrick Fatuesi didn’t think much of the smoke coming from a car engine Aug. 19 at the Presidio of Monterey Exchange’s Express gas station.
“I thought it was just an overheated engine,” he said.
Fatuesi then noticed a woman with a dog outside the car talking on her phone and trying to alert someone. Then he saw the smoke turn into flames.
Fatuesi, assistant main store manager at the Presidio of Monterey Exchange, grabbed a fire extinguisher, ran toward the car and fought the flames. Meanwhile, Shift Manager Khristahleen Abungan turned off all the gas pumps.
Luckily, Fatuesi said, the fire department was just across the street.
“I just started to shout and wave them over, and I caught their attention,” Fatuesi said.
Firefighters quickly extinguished the remainder of the flames.
“I didn’t do anything special besides run toward the fire,” said Fatuesi, a 32-year Army Veteran who has worked for the Exchange for about three years. “I just remembered my training, and it’s automatic.”
Fatuesi’s and Abungan’s actions at the gas station demonstrated the Exchange’s core value of the courage to use good judgment.
“They just immediately sprang into action and handled things very professionally,” Presidio of Monterey Exchange General Manager Douglas Everett said. “They made sure no one was in danger and stabilized the situation until firefighters arrived.”
Fatuesi estimated the car was parked about six or seven car lengths away from the nearest gas pump. No one was inside the car as it burned, and none of the pumps were threatened.
“I was just doing what I was trained to do,” said Fatuesi, who ends his shift every day by stopping by the gas station on his way home to check on things. “Anyone else would have thought to do the same thing.”
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