When an Omaha man’s car caught fire, his keys were locked inside.
That’s not the shocking part.
In a bizarre and sad story that unfolded Sunday night on Saddle Creek Road and California Street in Midtown, a car was stopped on the road. There was a lot of smoke. Someone called 9-1-1.
When firefighters arrived, the driver was standing outside the car — he was locked out of the vehicle.
Investigators said that after firefighters broke a window and soaked the car in water to keep the fire from spreading, they noticed a child in the backseat.
According to prosecutors, firefighters had asked the driver, 29-year-old Mark McLemore, whether there was anyone in the vehicle — and he did not indicate there was.
As firefighters checked the car, they spotted a 3-year-old girl in the backseat without a car seat.
Thankfully, she was alive.